


Free Falling

by CanineKitten



Category: Naruto
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, And then some..., Awkward First Times, Betaed, First Kiss, First Time, Getting Together, Grinding, M/M, Meandering Storyline, Mutual Masturbation, Mutual Pining, Romance, Sexual Inexperience, Slow Burn, Unresolved Sexual Tension, disregards 699 and 700
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2020-06-29 19:55:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 46,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19837420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CanineKitten/pseuds/CanineKitten
Summary: After being reinstated as a shinobi, Sasuke takes on what is supposed to be a standard mission together with Naruto. But the mission soon spirals out of control when they get involved in a conflict that isn't theirs. Eventually they end up in the wilderness, lost and without any other help but a strange map that lives its own life, and it only gets weirder from there on... At least they get to spend a lot of time together and learn to know each other better than they ever could have dreamed of.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Read this before you start reading the story! 
> 
> I made a few notable changes to the canon storyline (apart from disregarding chapter 699 and 700). Firstly, Naruto and Sasuke isn't so crazily leveled up. Sasuke doesn't have the rinnegan, and Naruto doesn't have the six path abilities or all the beast abilities. (They did get their abilities from the sage of six paths during the war, only the abilities were temporary). Secondly, they didn't lose their arms during their fight. And thirdly, there's no Kaguya.
> 
> I'm mostly making the changes due to not being able to keep track with all their abilities, and because it makes for better storytelling when they can't just easily get themselves out of every difficult situation. And because all that stuff with Kaguya bugged me a bit... So for the most part this story won't seem that different from canon. 
> 
> With that out of the way, onto the story ^^
> 
> Betaed by heartsns.

Sasuke kneeled over Naruto. It wasn’t raining this time. They weren’t thirteen anymore, and still, it felt exactly like their first fight all over again. Naruto’s eyes were closed. He looked like he was sleeping. Sasuke closed his eyes for a brief moment, and when he opened them again, tears were running down Naruto’s cheek. They were not Naruto’s, he realizes after a confused moment. They were his. Even after all this time, he was still crying over his friend.

“It had to be this way,” he told himself through tightly clenched teeth. “We can’t both live.”

He got to his knees, and even though it took all the strength he had left in his body, he raised his sword and clutched it in both hands.

“Goodbye, my one and only,” he whispered before he let the sword drop.

The tip ended up buried in the bedrock next to Naruto.

He couldn’t do it.

 _This is the ultimate destruction of myself_ , he thought.

Waiting for Naruto to die. Hoping he’s going to die so that he finally can be free of this waiting, this fear. Dreading his death because he knew it’d crush him. He wondered if it was really all worth it. He thought about Itachi, about his sacrifices for the village. The village that cared nothing about him. The village that eventually threw him away.

He straightened up and gripped the sword again.

In one, last, desperate moment of impulse, he leant down, just this once, to give Naruto’s lips the quickest, shortest kiss. Then he drew his arms back once again, closed his eyes, and knew that this time his sword would hit home.

He knew that he would kill himself as surely as he would kill Naruto. Only, he’d die more slowly and more painfully.

His arms shook, his hands tightened on the hilt, his biceps clenched.

A hand grabbed his arm. Strong fingers closed around his elbow, and then the sword was flung to the side. He was pulled face first down to the ground. His body collapsed meekly from exhaustion, yet he still fought the hold. Naruto was surprisingly strong for someone so depleted. He put his entire weight on top of Sasuke, trapping him beneath him and holding him there. Sasuke fought him with all the strength he had, but there was nothing left and Naruto was wrapped around him like a bear trap. Sasuke went lax. He realized that he had lost, and… it felt like a relief. He started crying, and he didn’t even have the strength to feel ashamed about it. Naruto just held him. Sasuke could feel his breath on his neck and it was strangely comforting.

“Do you surrender?” Naruto whispered.

Sasuke nodded, but Naruto didn’t let go.

Sasuke took a few deep breaths, calming himself. “I surrender,” he said, his voice slightly shaky. “I surrender.”

He could swear that he felt Naruto’s breath burn a mark on his neck. When Naruto slowly let go of him, Sasuke slumped in the mud. He was done. He was burned out. He didn’t have another ounce of power in him. If Naruto decided to use that against him, he wouldn’t be able to defend himself. But Naruto didn’t do anything except sit up with a pained groan.

It took a while before Sasuke gathered the strength to sit up too. Naruto was watching the sunrise. He turned to Sasuke with a small smile on his lips. Sasuke didn’t return the smile. He stared up at the sunrise and wondered how he’d never realized how beautiful it was. Then he looked at Naruto, and wondered about the same thing.

Naruto watched him intently.

“Something happened to you,” he said. “You look different.”

Sasuke wasn’t entirely sure what Naruto was talking about. He just knew that for the first time in a long, long while, he felt completely calm.


	2. Not a Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: they're nineteen here, but since I base this on Japanese laws they're not of legal drinking age yet... I won't categorize what happens in this story as underage drinking, but in the context of the story it is.

Sasuke woke up with a small gasp. His heart felt heavy in his chest. It took him awhile to make sense of his surroundings. He was home. No… he was in Konoha. It didn’t feel right to call it home. Never would.

But at the moment it was the only home he had, and for the foreseeable future it would continue to be.

This town… This house… It was nothing more than a prison, just without the bars.

Sasuke walked through the dark, quiet rooms, over to the panorama windows in the living room, looking out into the overgrown garden.

Sometimes he wondered if this house had been dealt him because it was so secluded, yet close to other districts that belonged to old shinobi families… Just to keep him under watch and at the same time away from the public.

He closed the black satin robe tighter around himself.

He still remembered the first time he entered the house.

\------

_The house was lying at the end of a quiet street on the east side of Konoha. It was not exactly a good compensation for the Uchiha-district, but Sasuke didn't mind. Living in his old house, surrounded by the empty homes of people he used to know, would have made him feel even lonelier._

_"You get an entire house?!" Naruto complained. His face was scrunched up in a grimace of envy, his eyes shut tightly. His hands were carelessly folded at the back of his head._

_Sasuke walked towards the door, fumbling with the keys as he tried to find the right one. Apparently, he needed ten keys to get through one door. As he finally found the right one and unlocked the door to let them into the house, he was greeted by a musty smell. He poked his head inside, taking in the gray carpet that covered every surface in the hallway and on the stairs with dismay._

_"It sure is dusty in here," Naruto said and shoved his way past Sasuke. As he strode over the groaning floor, he kicked up a dust cloud that could rival a sandstorm._

_Sasuke followed Naruto inside, waving away the clouds of dust that fogged the air. A short inspection of the house taught him that the second floor was even dustier than the ground floor, but otherwise everything seemed in order._

_The water ran in the taps, and there were no signs of further neglect._

_"Man, this house looks like it hasn’t been lived in for years," Naruto said as he went through the cupboards in the kitchen. He stopped to poke at something and made a disgruntled sound. Sasuke wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know what he'd found._

_"Well," Naruto said with a sudden shift of mood, and turned towards Sasuke. "When do you want us to come over?"_

_Sasuke frowned, annoyed at the way Naruto spoke like everything was decided. "What do you mean?"_

_"It's gonna take some time to wash down this place," Naruto said, gesturing around him at the dust and spider webs accumulating in the corners. "So we'll help you!”_

_Sasuke turned away from Naruto and walked into the living room. He stood by the large windows that were looking out over the surprisingly big garden. Suddenly he felt a rush of nostalgia. He had never experienced something like that before, and it made his insides twist. He would like nothing more than to be left alone. He didn't mind the dust. He could clean it up at his own pace._

_Naruto entered the room and stood right inside the doorway in silence._

_"You don't need to help me," Sasuke said after a moment. "I'll manage fine."_

_He heard Naruto shuffle his feet, his new jacket rustling._

_"You can leave now," Sasuke said with finality._

_Naruto didn't leave._

_"Sasuke," he said. "Are you still thinking of them?"_

_Sasuke's hands tightened into fists, before he forced himself to loosen them. "Of course I do," he said. "Always."_

_It took a long while before Naruto finally left, but Sasuke didn't really register it. Instead he watched the shadows crawl over the lawn until they swallowed up everything, leaving him and the house in darkness._

_\-----_

_Naruto didn't heed Sasuke's wish. Of course he didn’t. He knew Sasuke too well to accept it when he pushed people away. He showed up together with Sakura the next morning, carrying bottles of soap and buckets._

_"I said I didn't need your help," Sasuke said as way of greeting, but Naruto just squeezed past him with a knowing grin, and Sasuke let him._

_"Wow, this place is nice, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said in honest appreciation as she made her way inside too. "When we get it cleaned up, it will be as good as new!"_

_With the help of a dozen of Naruto's clones, it took them only half the day to wash down the entire house. Sakura had brought lunch, and Sasuke had to admit that he appreciated her thoughtfulness._

_But when she started talking about decoration and flowers, he realized it was time to get her out. A soft snigger directed his attention towards Naruto. The blond had caught the minute changes in his expression, and knew that it was Sasuke's version of alarm._

_'Better distract her,' Naruto mouthed at him._

_That mischievous grin and those glittering eyes were still firmly lodged in Sasuke’s mind. It had been a good day._

\------

Sasuke looked away from the window and the rain soaked garden. The house was chilly at this time of the year, but instead of turning up the heat, Sasuke went back to bed.

\------

The days passed in a blur. Sasuke seldom went outside. It was not like him to become idle, but that’s what this cursed place did to him. It had been a year since the trial; a year since he was sentenced to spend his time in this pit of vipers that wanted nothing more than to see him dead. 

He could feel people’s eyes on him when he went outside, could feel their glares on his back like daggers.

Naruto said that he was paranoid, but Naruto had always been too gullible. That was why he was so happy about becoming the village hero. He didn’t for a second consider the falseness of an entire village changing their view on him that easily. If they could turn positive towards him so quickly, who said they wouldn’t turn negative again just as quickly?

Naruto had high hopes of becoming the hokage one day. Now the dream seemed tangible to him, whereas before it had only been backed up by pure stubbornness.

Sasuke didn’t want to put a damper on his mood, but he wouldn’t put it past the villagers to protest against having a jinchuuriki hokage, even now. Though, seeing how well Gaara was doing, maybe it would be possible.

Sasuke didn’t care either way. He supposed Konoha would become a slightly better place for him to live in as long as Naruto ruled there, but only slightly. At least he’d be granted more freedom than he had now. At the time being, he was under house arrest. He could not set a toe outside the village walls without permission. In addition, he was not yet reinstated as a shinobi, and there was little chance of him ever being again.

If he hadn’t been crazy before, he’d surely turn insane within the end of the year if nothing changed.

Naruto and Sakura tried their best to cheer him up, but there was only so much that words could do to brighten his situation, and they both knew it.

Sasuke walked to the closest supermarket with his eyes firmly fixed on the road. He could sense people staring at him when he walked past, but he didn’t pay them any notice.

As usual, the lady behind the register at the supermarket gave him a good, long look when he placed thee bottles of sake on the desk.

Sasuke just calmly returned the gaze.

The woman had yet to ask for his ID. Sasuke had a feeling she knew who he was, though. He supposed she couldn’t care less if he drank himself stupid.

She rang up his order without taking her eyes off him, and Sasuke handed her a wad of money without breaking the eye contact. Then he grabbed the plastic bag with his purchase and walked out without turning or looking at anyone around him.

It had become routine by now.

\-----

Naruto knocked on the door to Sasuke’s house, but no one opened. He tried the door handle and found the door unlocked. 

‘Careless’, he thought.

After a moment of hesitation, he went inside. It was past noon, yet there was no sign that Sasuke was up. Not a single light was on, and the hallway was dark and chilly.

Naruto walked on tiptoes down the hall and opened the door to Sasuke’s bedroom. It felt perhaps a bit intrusive, but something kept him from calling out. Instead he went over to the window and pulled back the curtains. The room got bathed in bright sunlight that chased the shadows into the corners. In the middle of the room stood a bed, and Sasuke was lying in it, fast asleep despite the fact that Naruto had just crossed directly through his room.

Naruto wondered what had him sleeping so deeply, though he could guess. He moved closer to the bed, close enough that he could lean over and take in the smell of alcohol that wafted from Sasuke.

He sighed almost imperceptibly. How had he ended up this way?

After they had fought back Madara and thwarted his eye of the moon plan, and Naruto and Sasuke had fought, leading to Sasuke’s surrender and eventual return to Konoha, Naruto had, perhaps naively, thought that things would go back to how they had been before.

It wasn’t just ‘perhaps naïve’. It was genuinely, stupidly naïve of him. He’d had some sort of rose tinted dream of finally reuniting team seven and returning stronger than ever, every one of them happy now that they were finally united.

Real life didn’t work that way.

Sasuke was clearly struggling with being back in Konoha, basically imprisoned in the town that had killed his clan, and it was all Naruto’s fault.

He sat down on the edge of Sasuke’s bed, careful not to wake him.

Watching Sasuke sleep reminded him of their days in the hospital, after their last fight. Sasuke had slept most of the time, drugged down on pain meds. Naruto had healed quickly and had been allowed to leave much earlier than Sasuke, but he had stayed a while longer despite it. He wanted to be there when Sasuke woke up. He wasn’t sure why, but he just wanted to be the first person Sasuke laid eyes on.

He couldn’t get the memory of what had gone down between them during their fight out of his head. Each ferocious punch and kick they had served each other was like etched into Naruto’s mind. The look in Sasuke’s eyes… He supposed he had wanted to make sure that Sasuke didn’t look like that again when he woke up. He wanted to see with his own eyes the Sasuke that he remembered from before, the one that wasn’t consumed by hatred.

Naruto hadn’t been the first person Sasuke saw when he woke up. That had been an escort of ANBU and the hokage. After that, Naruto had barely gotten to see his friend for a year. The Sasuke who had walked out of the police station after the trials, was a different person than the one that had left all those years ago. He was even a different person from the one that Naruto had clashed with and fought both beside and against over a span of three years.

Sometimes he wondered if this shadow of a human was all that was left of his friend.

Naruto ran his fingers over the indentations in Sasuke’s wrists where some asshole guard had tightened the handcuffs too tight. Since it was a special pair of handcuffs designed for shinobi, hampering one’s ability to make hand seals, they had also been fastened too tight around Sasuke’s fingers, and a slightly darkened line ran along his second knuckles where the metal edge had cut in.

Sasuke made a soft sound in his throat, and Naruto hurried to let go of his hand.

Seconds later, Sasuke’s eyes opened. He blinked several times and squinted at the sunlight that streamed into the room. He stared at Naruto for a long moment, as though he needed time to place him in his mental library.

“You’d have been dead ten time over if I wanted to kill you,” Naruto said conversationally.

Sasuke grumbled something intelligible and sat up, clutching his head.

“What are you doing here this early?” he asked, his voice gravelly.

“You forgot to lock the door,” Naruto said. “And it’s not early. It’s the middle of the day. Listen, Tsunade’s got something she wants to talk to you about. You better hurry. She wanted you to be there ten minutes ago.”

Sasuke groaned softly. “Thanks for the heads up.”

“I told you now, didn’t I?”

Sasuke sighed.

He really did look worse for wear. His skin looked almost greyish pale, and he had dark bags under his eyes, like he hadn’t slept properly for weeks.

“I bet you’ll feel right as rain again as soon as you get yourself some coffee!” Naruto said in an attempt to lift Sasuke’s spirits.

“Naruto…” Sasuke grumbled. “I don’t drink coffee.”

Damn… That’s right…

“Eh, well… Want me to make you something? Anything? I make a mean omelet.”

Sasuke snorted. “If you can make an omelet out of what’s in my fridge, then you deserve a medal.”

Naruto got up and extended a hand to Sasuke, pulling him to his feet. Sasuke stood a bit shakily. His pajama pants were riding low on his hips. No shirt, so Naruto could follow his subtle happy trail down…

Naruto looked away and hoped Sasuke hadn’t caught him staring.

“Okay!” He said cheerily. “Make something out of whatever’s in your fridge? I accept the challenge!”

\-----

“What did Tsunade want?” Naruto said the moment Sasuke came out from the hokage tower. 

Both he and Sakura had been waiting excitedly for him. Naruto thought Sasuke looked a bit dazed.

“She wants me reinstated,” Sasuke said.

Sakura beamed. “For real?”

Sasuke just nodded numbly. In the daylight he looked like a vampire who had been forced outdoors against his will. His paleness looked even sicklier, and it was glaringly obvious how tired he was.

But there was something else about him now, something that hadn’t been there that morning. A gentle glow that made his eyes look more alive, and his skin seem to have a slight rosiness beneath the pallor. He looked a bit too skinny for his clothes, yet he carried himself with such pride that it was barely noticeable.

“That’s great!” Naruto said, and clapped Sasuke on the shoulder. “Let’s celebrate with some ramen!”

They went to Ichiraku’s, and Naruto offered to pay. Sasuke didn’t protest. Naruto had a feeling that he had used up what little allowance he had that month on booze.

Naruto and Sakura chatted enough for the three of them, but Sasuke shot in a few words now and then, which was more than Naruto had hoped for. The news really seemed to have lifted his spirits.

Sakura left first. She had to go home or her parents would start to worry. She grimaced as she said it. She was working as a medic at the hospital now, and soon she would be able to afford her own apartment.

Naruto and Sasuke remained seated a little longer. At first they sat in comfortable silence, sipping on small cups of sake that Teuchi graciously had slipped them. They talked about casual, everyday things, like the tomato plant that was growing beside Sasuke’s patio, and the ridiculous amount of work Naruto was going through in order to become a jounin.

“Maybe we’ll get to take the exam together?” Naruto mused.

Then he started updating Sasuke on what was happening in the lives of everyone they knew in Konoha. He wasn’t sure if Sasuke actually was interested. He was twisting his empty sake cup round and round and throwing longing glances towards the bottle of sake behind the register.

“Sakura has been on a date with Lee,” Naruto said in a last attempt to get Sasuke’s full attention.

It worked. Sasuke blinked and stared at him.

“With Lee?”

Naruto shrugged.

“He’s a great guy, and he’s strong. He cares deeply for her too…” Naruto trailed off just as Sasuke averted his gaze, looking guiltily down at his hands.

"I thought it'd end up being the two of you," Sasuke said. He looked up at Naruto with the shadow of a smile. “I thought she’d come to her senses once I left, and see that she had someone much better still at her side.”

Naruto blushed a bit. Then he shrugged. “It didn’t work out like that between us. We’re friends now, and I like it better that way.”

“So you’re not sorry she’s finding someone else?”

Naruto shook his head, careful not to look Sasuke in the eyes.

Teuchi took pity on them and refilled their cups. “But that’ll be the last,” he said. “I’m closing soon anyway.”

Naruto grinned and thanked him. Sasuke merely gave him a nod. 

"What about you?" Naruto said, trying to sound as casual as possible. “Does it bother you that she moved on?”

"I never imagined a good future for myself,” Sasuke admitted. “But she was definitely not in it in that way if I had.” He took a sip of the sake and the conversation stuttered to a halt after that.

Naruto tried to stop himself from glancing at Sasuke every other second, but Sasuke’s face was turned slightly away, his dark hair falling over his cheek, and Naruto wanted to brush it away and run the tips of his fingers over Sasuke’s cheek.

He hurried to look away before Sasuke caught him staring.

He looked at their hands instead. They were casually lying right next to each other on the table. Sasuke was using his left hand to hold the cup, while Naruto used his right hand. It was just a coincidence. Still… Naruto moved his hand half an inch closer to Sasuke’s, and Sasuke’s hand twitched slightly, moving almost imperceptibly closer to Naruto’s.

Then Teuchi came over and asked if they were done, since he was closing up, and the moment was over. Sasuke retracted his hand and got up, and Naruto did the same, throwing a wad of money down on the table.

They waved goodbye to Teuchi and started walking in the same direction. Naruto’s apartment was lying in the center of Konoha, while Sasuke’s house was situated at the edge of town.

Naruto suddenly felt desperate to find something to talk about, anything, just to keep Sasuke’s attention a little longer. Frustratingly enough, nothing would come to mind now that he needed it most.

They stopped at the street where their roads parted.

For a long, awkward moment, neither of them said anything and neither of them left. They just stood there, staring down at the ground, hands buried deep in their pockets.

Naruto lifted one hand and for a moment let it hang in the air before he lamely let it land on Sasuke’s shoulder. “Well,” Naruto said, patting Sasuke’s shoulder. “Bye.” He turned on his heel and practically ran away. He threw one glance over his shoulder, only to find that Sasuke was still standing there. As he watched him, Sasuke turned and left.

_Stupid_ , Naruto berated himself. _What did I do that for?_

They rarely touched, but Naruto just hadn’t been able to let it be… He felt that there was something there. Something between them. But if he was wrong about it, it’d be catastrophic to make a move.

He sighed.

Then he walked briskly homewards.


	3. The Old Man, the Girl, and the Thief

Naruto felt content. He was lying on the floor in Sasuke’s living room, propped up on some pillows. He was supposed to be reading scrolls on jounin-level jutsu’s, but instead he was watching Sasuke.

Sasuke was sitting by the window, honing his weapons. He had just gotten his new uniform and was waiting patiently for the get go to start his jounin training. In the meantime, he was allowed to take on chuunin-level missions.

It was a quiet afternoon. Neither of them felt the need to talk, but they were content in each other’s company.

Suddenly, a shadow landed on the porch outside the open door. Sasuke didn't even flinch, but Naruto, who had been deep in thought, got startled.

It was Sakura.

"Hey, are you guys coming? We're still going out for dinner today, right?" she said.

Sasuke didn't really answer. He just started putting away his weapons in neat order.

Naruto dropped his half forgotten scrolls on the floor.

"Alright, we'll be ready in a minute."

Sakura waited for them to get ready, and then they walked together to a nearby restaurant.

The conversation flowed easily as they ate, Sasuke being more involved in it than normal. He had seemed to perk up a bit after he was reinstated. Naruto had a feeling that he couldn’t wait to be sent on a mission outside of Konoha. When Sakura said that she’d heard Tsunade mention something about a routine mission that involved them, the two men exchanged hopeful looks.

Sure enough, a message was dispatched the next day and Naruto and Sasuke met up at the hokage tower at the break of dawn, both in full gear.

Tsunade stood from her chair and walked over to the windows. She measured them both with her piercing, honey-colored gaze.

"Because of certain reasons," she gave Sasuke a telling look, "we've decided to give the two of you an easy start-up mission. It's your first mission for Konoha in quite some time, Uchiha. I won’t tolerate any fuck up’s. It is a routine mission and you won’t need a medic, so I won’t disrupt Sakura’s busy schedule to come with you. The daimyo wants us to keep an eye on an arts dealer who’s under suspicion of dealing in something a bit more illegal than the erotic art that he’s known for.”

“E-erotic arts?” Naruto said.

“Yes,” Tsunade said. Then she added, with a small, sardonic smile, “you traveled with Jiriaya, so I don’t see the problem.”

“That is the problem,” Naruto said. Then he muttered under his breath so that only Sasuke could hear, “These kind of situations always end with me using my sexy no jutsu.”

Sasuke lifted an eyebrow, which was his way of saying ‘what the actual fuck’, but Naruto just shrugged it off.

\-----

The arts dealer was an old man who lived just at the border of Land of Rivers. His palace lay in solemn beauty on top of a hill. It was obvious already at a distance that this guy was well off.

“It’s pretty obvious he must be dealing in something more than erotic art,” Naruto commented under his breath as they approached the gates.

Sasuke nodded.

The old man greeted them at the doors. He was a tall muscular man with white hair and beard. He held himself with poise and pride, but when he approached them, they saw that he limped slightly and leant heavily on a gilded, ornate walking stick.

“I’m Ohna Ginjiro,” he said. He placed his hand on the shoulder of a young woman who walked up next to him. “And this is my daughter, Mei.”

Mei bowed her head demurely in greeting. She was a classical beauty with long, silky black hair, long eyelashes framing wide, clear eyes, and a lithe body dressed in a beautiful kimono.

“She’ll show you your rooms,” the man said.

“Follow me,” Mei said in a soft, pleasant voice and led them down a hallway and up a flight of stairs, and then up another flight of stairs. For being in such an unwieldy outfit, she moved quickly and fluidly.

Their rooms were at the top floor, both with balconies and an amazing view of the lush valley and the village lying next to the river below.

“Dinner will be served in an hour,” Mei said and bowed before retreating and closing the door behind her.

Naruto flopped down on Sasuke’s bed and marveled at the softness of the mattress.

“This place is neat,” he said.

“Don’t lose focus,” Sasuke warned.

Naruto rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. It’s just a routine mission. How dangerous can this guy be, anyway?”

\------

As they walked down the hallway, Naruto couldn’t stop ogling the art adorning the walls. It was a veritable kama sutra being displayed along the whole hallway. 

“He really does enjoy his art,” Naruto commented drily.

Sasuke didn’t bat an eyelash, but he felt a strange kind of annoyance at Naruto’s obvious interest. Mei didn’t say anything. She was leading the way to the dining room, seemingly unfazed by the life-size paintings that they passed.

“How do you like my mansion?” the old man asked once they were all seated around the dining table. Mei had not taken a seat. Instead she started serving them sake.

“It’s beautiful,” Naruto said immediately. “You’ve really made a good business out of artwork.”

The man waved one hand as though waving off the praise. “Oh, I can’t give my business all that credit. I come from a wealthy family. Old money.”

“I’ve never heard your name before,” Sasuke drawled. “It’s not a well known family name in fire country, as far as I know.”

The man regarded Sasuke with narrowed eyes.

“You’re Uchiha Sasuke, aren’t you?”

Sasuke bore no visible clan sign on his official shinobi attire. Apparently, this old man knew more than an ordinary civilian.

Sasuke didn’t deign him with an answer, but the man didn’t need one.

“I recognize the eyes,” he said almost to himself. Then he turned away abruptly. “Well, I suppose my family isn’t that well known that it has been heard of all the way over in Konoha.” He plastered on a benign grin. “I suppose you must be hungry! Mei, darling, please serve the dinner.”

Sasuke kept an eye on Mei. There was something about her that he couldn’t quite place. She seemed a little too young to be the old man’s daughter. She couldn’t be much older than Naruto and him. It was also a bit strange that the daughter was set to serve them, yet at the same time she was too unfamiliar with the cutlery and the food to be a servant. In addition, she moved so nimbly and quietly that even Sasuke was a bit startled when she suddenly stood right next to him.

“I know the daimyo is suspicious about my wealth,” the old man said. He chuckled heartily, as though the mere notion amused him. “But he’s nervous about anyone who accumulate a lot of wealth. It’s natural, I suppose. I would have been nervous too, if I were him. But I welcome you two, and you know why?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “Because I’m innocent, first and foremost, and nothing would please me more than to prove it, but also because I’ve been struggling with some issues of my own. A suspicious character has been observed sneaking about the parameter of my land. I don’t like any of this sneaking about and hiding business. I prefer to look my enemies in the eyes.”

He met Sasuke’s eyes with a grim smile.

“I’ve got a feeling that this character is out to steal my valuables. I have a strong defense of this place, but it doesn’t hurt to have a couple of shinobi on the prowl as well. Since you’re here to look for suspicious activity, you might as well look out for this guy.”

Sasuke and Naruto exchanged quick glances.

The old man continued talking without waiting for an answer, as though he viewed the matter as set already.

The dinner lasted far longer than they were comfortable with. It was obvious that the old man enjoyed keeping them there so that he could stop them from investigating the rest of the mansion.

Sasuke noticed that Naruto kept looking over at Mei, who was standing off to the side of the old man. Sasuke couldn’t see what she was doing without turning and staring right at her, but Naruto blushed ever so slightly and stared down at his plate, before he glanced over at her again. For some reason, it bothered Sasuke a bit.

When the dinner finally came to an end, the old man insisted on showing them around the mansion. He gave them a throughout tour of the entire mansion, from the kitchens in the basement to the well-stocked and slightly ostentatious library, and even to the dusty attic. It was obvious he was eager to show that he had nothing to hide.

Which meant that if he had something to hide, he had hidden it well, and was apparently very confident that it wouldn’t be found. Sasuke kept an eye out for anything that looked out of the ordinary, and made a mental note to check out several locations and objects that had the potential to hide something.

When they were finally allowed to go back to their rooms, night had fallen and they were exhausted. Naruto flopped down on Sasuke’s bed. Again.

Sasuke sat down in the wide windowsill, bringing one foot up on the ledge.

“Mei looks nothing like her father,” Naruto said. “She must get her beauty from her mother.”

Sasuke swallowed a sigh. If he had to listen to even one more word about Mei, he would throw himself off the balcony. Naruto had been talking about nothing else since they parted from her and the old man.

Sasuke didn’t mention any of his suspicions about Mei. He had a feeling Naruto wouldn’t want to listen to him in regard to her. He seemed too dazzled by her beauty.  
It could become a problem.

‘Nice move,’ Sasuke thought. Distracting them with a pretty girl was apparently going to work. The old man seemed to have thought about everything.

“We should keep watch during the night,” Sasuke said. “In case this suspicious character shows up. I’m guessing we should be interested in whatever they’re after.”

Naruto rested on his elbow and reached for a small book that was lain out on the bedside table.

“What are we looking for, exactly?” he said.

“I’m not sure. Some evidence of illegal activity, though I don’t know what it could be. I guess we’ll know once we find it.”

Naruto leafed through the book. Suddenly he got very quiet.

“What are you reading?” Sasuke asked.

“Uh…” Naruto blushed a bit. He put the book back where he’d found it. “I’ll take the first watch. You should get some rest. I’ll wake you up in seven hours’ time?”

Sasuke nodded.

After Naruto had left, Sasuke grabbed the book and opened it on a random page.

Oh.

He leafed through it. It was a richly decorated and extremely detailed rendition of every sex-position imaginable, including for same-sex couple’s. Sasuke’s lingered on some of the pictures for a bit longer than he liked to admit. He closed the book decisively and put it on the windowsill.

\-----

That night and the next day passed without incident. The old man had to tend to some business, so he didn’t join them at breakfast. But Mei was there, quiet and obedient as always. Naruto asked her a lot of questions, but it was impossible to get more than two words out of her at a time. She just averted her eyes with a demure little smile, and diverted their attention with food.

After breakfast, Naruto went to bed while Sasuke went on exploring. Sasuke used the opportunity now that the old man was away to take a look at the library. Naruto hadn’t taken the chance while the old man was home since his private quarters were right next to it.

Sasuke moved quietly between stacks of scrolls and old books the size of slabs of stone. He carefully went through every inch of it, from the lavish desk in gold, to the ornate wooden filing cabinet.

He found nothing. Not as much as a suspicious receipt.

He started looking for secret hiding places, and found quite a few in the wooden panel on the wall, and around the marble fireplace, but there was nothing of interest there either.

He anticipated this, Sasuke realized. He’s playing with us.

He slipped out of the room before Mei and her eerie quietness could catch him. He wasn’t worried about the few guards that patrolled the grounds. They mostly stayed outside, either in the gardens, watching the fence that surrounded the property, or outside the doors and on the balconies.

He let Naruto sleep through lunch, but woke him up in time for dinner. The old man still hadn’t returned, and Mei was nowhere to be seen.

After dinner they returned to their quarters.

“This is the most boring mission I’ve ever taken,” Naruto said through a yawn.

“Our genin missions were still worse,” Sasuke said. “Now we’re at least getting fed well.”

“True.” Then a pause… “D’you think he’s just buttering us up?”

“Most probably.”

“Well… I can’t complain, though.”

Naruto was stretched out on his own bed. His room was almost entirely identical to Sasuke’s.

Naruto flopped onto his stomach and started leafing through the small erotic arts book. 

He stared at each page in amazement and, at times, in puzzlement. He even turned the book some times, as though he couldn't make sense of the picture.

"That isn't physically possible," he muttered once.

Sasuke wondered if the pictures simply didn’t affect Naruto, or if he was too amazed to take them honestly. He knew with himself, though, that he wouldn't take up that book again even if he were forced to at sword-point.

Sasuke stood and said that he was taking a round to check if everything was okay, but he doubted Naruto even heard him. He was on his way through the second floor gallery when he caught a movement down in the garden among the lengthening evening shadows. The sun was already starting to set behind the hill that towered over the valley.

Sasuke half-expected the movement to be an animal, or perhaps one of the guards, but he stopped nevertheless and kept an eye on the bushes that stood in the shadows. Someone with less than brilliant eyesight might have missed the quick shadow that darted along the ground in shelter of the deep shadows of some maple trees, but Sasuke caught the movement easily. Not quickly enough to discern anything else but that the figure was human and wrapped in dark cloth, though. Then the dark figure had disappeared out of sight by the mansion walls.

Sasuke didn’t waste a second wondering who it might be. Instead he sprung onto the ledge of the gallery, and swung himself up onto the roof. He darted along the roof in the direction he’d seen the shadow run. For a moment he thought he’d lost the mysterious figure, but then he saw it again, this time agilely scaling the façade of the mansion.

Sasuke’s suspicions were confirmed; this was a shinobi. He threw a kunai that lodged itself inches from the dark clad shinobi’s hand just as he was about to pull himself up onto a balcony.

The shinobi hesitated for a second, but it was a second too long. Sasuke charged at him and the unknown shinobi had to flee up onto the roof. Sasuke landed lightly on the rail of the balcony before he jumped just as lightly onto the roof.

Sasuke knew the layout of the mansion well, and had already realized that they were right over the guest quarters where he and Naruto stayed, not too far from the library and the old man’s private quarters.

The dark clad shinobi stopped and faced Sasuke. The face was covered by a dark cloth, but broad shoulders and tall stature told Sasuke that he was dealing with a man. He met Sasuke fearlessly, but cautiously.

“Leaf ninja?” he said, his voice raspy. “I see the old man has stepped up his defense.”

Sasuke moved one step closer, and the other shinobi took one step back.

He apparently wasn’t as confident as he pretended to be.

“I know you,” the man said. “You’re the last Uchiha.”

Sasuke took another step closer, and she dark clad shinobi jumped up onto an elevated part of the roof.

“Then I suppose you’re aware of what I can do,” Sasuke said calmly.

Behind the other shinobi, he saw a shadow move lightly across the roof, slowly moving closer.

“Yes,” the man said, not without a certain amount of tremor. “Who hasn’t heard about you?”

“What about me, then?”

The dark clad shinobi spun around and Sasuke felt like slapping his forehead. Naruto of course couldn’t shut up for long enough to exploit the moment of distraction.  
The dark clad man immediately disappeared in a puff of smoke.

“Shit,” Sasuke swore. He activated his sharingan and scanned the grounds. “There!”

He pointed in the direction where he saw the shinobi’s chakra signature, and he and Naruto hurried after him. They ran through the grounds, over the river, and into the forest on the other side before Sasuke lost the man’s trail.

“He must have a hiding place around here somewhere,” Sasuke said.

“Let’s go back,” Naruto said. “This isn’t part of our mission anyway.”

It occurred to Sasuke that the whole thing could have been a ruse to get them away from the mansion. Naruto seemed to be thinking the same thing, because he hurried back.

Everything was calm when they returned.

The old man was back, and they reported to him. Mei stood at his side the whole time, looking increasingly frightened as they told about the thief.

“Why didn’t you get a hold of him and bring him back?” The old man said. “You could at least make some use out of yourselves.”

“We lost sight of him,” Sasuke said, inwardly fuming at the man’s audacity. “Besides, we’re not here to run after every opportunist that strolls in.”

The old man frowned, but he chose not to continue the argument.

“Very well… I hope you’ll be more alert the next time, though I doubt he’ll come back now that he knows how well guarded my mansion is.”

He dismissed them with a careless hand gesture. Sasuke left the room feeling like a dog that had been shooed away by its owner.

“I can’t stand that man,” Naruto hissed as they made their way back to their quarters.

Sasuke couldn’t agree more.

\------

That night and the next day passed in absolute boredom. Sasuke had taken the night shift, so Naruto was on guard that morning. The old man was holed up in his library, and Mei was seemingly avoiding him, so Naruto had nothing else to do but hope that the thief would show up again. Needless to say, he didn’t.

It was probably just some whelp that was bored and wanted to try himself at an exciting challenge. Thought, the fact that he managed to outrun them and even hide from them was a testament to how skilled he must be, or at least to how well he had planned the whole thing.

Naruto chatted a bit with some of the guards before going down to wake up Sasuke before dinner.

He knocked on the door but got no reaction. Sasuke usually slept lightly and would normally have awakened immediately. Naruto cracked the door open an inch and carefully called Sasuke’s name, just in case the crazy bastard was lying in wait to throw a kunai at any intruder.

Nothing happened. Naruto walked into the room.

Sasuke was sleeping soundly, a frown on his otherwise relaxed face. He seemed to be having a bad dream. Naruto hesitated for a moment, taking the opportunity to watch Sasuke while he couldn’t be caught doing it. As usual, something constricted in his chest at seeing him vulnerable in sleep. He refrained from stroking a tuft of hair away from Sasuke’s cheek even though he ached to touch.

He knew that even the slightest touch would wake Sasuke up. It was strange that he hadn’t woken already.  
Naruto moved closer and reached out to shake Sasuke’s shoulder, but before he could even touch Sasuke, his arm was grasped in an iron grip and he had a kunai shoved against his throat.

Sasuke’s eyes were as clear and alert as though he hadn’t just been deeply asleep. Yet, there was something in them, a wild, blood red glint that belied his state of mind. He was still inside of some half-dissolved dream. Only god knew what had stopped him from cutting Naruto’s throat right then and there.

“It’s just me,” Naruto said calmly.

Slowly, recognition bled into Sasuke’s gaze, and he let go of Naruto. He relaxed and slipped his kunai back into the holster on his arm.

“Why didn’t you knock?” he said.

Naruto sighed. “I did. You didn’t wake up.”

Sasuke frowned.

“Bad dream?” Naruto said in a vain hope that Sasuke would open up enough to answer.

Sasuke stood and ruffled his hair and ignored the question.

Naruto had to mentally roll his eyes at his own optimism.

“I’ll be waiting in my room. Knock when you’re ready to go downstairs,” Naruto said and left the room.

\------

Naruto noticed that Mei seemed worried during the dinner. She kept giving him glances, but without her signature coy smile. She seemed to try to tell him something with her eyes, but he didn’t know what.

He took the evening round together with Sasuke and they searched through the mansion for some sort of clue. They found nothing, and the few people who worked there weren’t very forthcoming either.

“He doesn’t have as much as a safe,” Naruto said.

“That’s the most suspicious part of it all. He must store his valuables some other place.”

“But why is he so worried about the thief, then?”

Sasuke’s eyes glinted. “Exactly.”

While Sasuke took that night’s watch, Naruto curled up cross-legged on his bed and flipped through the little book of erotic arts. It was different than reading any of Jiraiya’s books. Some of the sexual positions in the book were so outlandish that Naruto could never have imagined they were possible. He still wasn’t sure they were possible.

He leafed through the book until he found a picture that he especially liked. It depicted two men in the middle of the act, the one on the bottom with his legs spread wide, showing off in perfect detail the other man’s dick sliding into him.

What Naruto liked the most was their expressions. The pure bliss on their faces was so well captured.

He licked his lips and glanced at the door.

He was in enemy territory, so giving in to the call of his body could potentially be disastrous… But everything seemed so calm… It couldn’t hurt… Just once… A knock on the door gave him such a scare that he jumped a meter into the air. He got shakily to his feet.

He couldn’t imagine that the person on the other side of the door could be anyone else but Sasuke, and the thought sent his heart rocketing up into his throat. He realized that the book lay open on his bed and hurried to close it and tuck it away.  
Then he called out, “Come in.”

The door opened slowly, and then a small, frail girl in a kimono slipped into the room. Mei looked up at Naruto through her eyelashes.

“I’m sorry for disturbing you at this time,” she said. “I just can’t stop thinking about that thief. He came so close to breaking in. Who knows what he wants?” She looked a little paler than normal, and her voice was shaking slightly.

Naruto felt inexplicably disappointed for a second, but then his protective instinct took over and he led Mei over to the bed where he sat her down. Then he sat down next to her.

“It’s gonna be alright,” he said and squeezed her hand gently. She looked like a frail little doll, and he wanted nothing more than to make sure that she was safe. “That man won’t manage to get inside here, not with all the guards on high alert, and with me and Sasuke here.”

Mei smiled. “Thank you,” she said, and put her other hand on top of Naruto’s. “I do feel much safer with you here.”

Was it just Naruto’s imagination, or was she leaning closer?

Nope, she was leaning closer… Her lips were mere inches away from his and he had no idea what to do. He was quietly panicking. If he moved away, it would make everything awkward and he didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but if he didn’t then things would get even more awkward.

The sound of someone clearing their throat was what finally put an end to Naruto’s internal battle.

He and Mei both looked abruptly to the door, where Sasuke stood.

So now he shows up.

“What’s going on here?” Sasuke said calmly.

Mei stood and Naruto hurried to do the same. Mei was the first one to recover. She smiled carefully.

“Oh… Hi…” She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, baring her throat slightly as she tilted her chin to the side.

Sasuke looked back and forth between Mei and Naruto. His expression was impossible to read.

“This isn’t what it looks like,” Naruto blurted out. He knew it was a stupid thing to say since it just made him look even guiltier, but he was panicking.

“I’m sorry if I upset you somehow,” Mei said softly. “I just wanted to let the both of you know how eternally grateful I am to you for keeping me safe… and I, well… I just really appreciate that you’re here.”

She blushed cutely and looked up at Sasuke through fluttering eyelashes. Sasuke wasn’t giving her anything to work with, though; his face was so stony it could have been cut from marble. But that didn’t deter Mei. She took a few steps closer to him, brushing her hair over her shoulder so that it swayed against her back.

Naruto realized that his eyes had drifted to her swaying hips and quickly looked up again.

“I feel like I owe you both something for keeping me safe,” Mei said softly. She was looking up at Sasuke now. “If you’re willing, I’m more than happy to show my gratitude to the both of you.”

She certainly had confidence. Naruto felt sorry for her. He was one hundred percent sure that Sasuke would reject her. That’s why he had the shock of his life when instead of pushing her away, Sasuke brought her closer.

“That’s thoughtful of you,” he said in a voice that was so unusually smooth that it hurt Naruto’s ears.

And then Sasuke did the unthinkable and lowered his head to kiss Mei.

Naruto stared in absolute shock, his eyes fixed to the two mouths locked together.

Of all things, the only thought that floated through his head was 'when did Sasuke become such a great kisser?'

Naruto had been certain that the one thing he'd manage to do before Sasuke, was to un-accidentally kiss someone. He'd been safe in his assumptions that Sasuke was too reserved to even have realized he had a body with needs, much less act on those needs.

But now it turned out that Sasuke had beat him to that too.

That was not the reason why Naruto’s blood practically was boiling in his veins, though. For the first time, he felt real, actual dislike towards Mei.

Mei seemed to really be enjoying the kiss because her knees were buckling. Then, all of a sudden, she went completely limp and collapsed in Sasuke’s arms.

Sasuke kneeled and lowered her to the floor before he spat and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

It took a moment for Naruto to realize what had happened.

“What the fuck,” he sputtered. “Did you poison her?!”

“I just slipped her a sleeping draught.”

“Was it really necessary to kiss her? And when did you start with that?”

Sasuke shrugged. “It’s just a trick I’ve picked up.”

“But did you have to put it in her mouth with your mouth?” Naruto persisted. He found it difficult to get over seeing Sasuke kiss someone else.

Sasuke looked up at him with a frown. “You don’t have any right to question my methods. They’re completely safe, and I can kiss whomever the fuck I want. It was the easiest way. She didn’t even have time to realize she’d been drugged.”

Sasuke turned back to Mei, and to Naruto’s puzzlement he started undoing her kimono. Before he could ask, Sasuke spoke again. “I think it’s time you do what you do best.”

Naruto frowned. “And what’s that?”

Sasuke pulled the kimono-like robe off Mei so that she was lying there in only her undergarments.

He handed the robe over to Naruto.

“To turn into a woman.”

Naruto glared at Sasuke and wished that his cheeks weren’t turning so traitorously pink.

“Thanks a lot,” he said through his teeth, but he grabbed the robe. “You know, I’m good at other things too.” Dammit. He wanted nothing more than to wipe that smug grin off Sasuke’s face, but there was no time.

He henged into Mei, and pulled on the robe. “I knew this would happen eventually,” he muttered.

Sasuke lifted Mei and put her down on the bed, covering her with a blanket.

“Her breasts aren’t that big,” he pointed out when he turned back to Naruto.

Naruto stared down at the swelling breasts that hardly fit into the small kimono. He adjusted his henge and closed the robe around him, all the while giving Sasuke a thoughtful look.

“You apparently pay a lot of attention to her breasts,” he said.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes slightly. “I thought you would have paid better attention to them with the way you stare at her all the time. But you didn’t even notice that you couldn’t fit into her clothes.”

“Maybe I’m not as boob-crazed as you think,” Naruto said. The words sounded ridiculous in Mei’s light voice. He squared his shoulders. At least this time he wouldn’t have to use his henge to seduce some old guy.

“I guess it’s time I go and have a chat with our friend Ginjiro.”


	4. The Blood Clan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings: non-consensual sexual advances (not rape) and a homophobic slur (the f-word)

Naruto knocked on the door to Ginjiro’s bedroom. 

“Father?” he called quietly, although he’d never heard Mei call him that.

“Uh… Dad?” he tried.

His efforts yielded no results. Perhaps the old man was still in the library… He walked down the hall, past one of the two busty statues standing on pedestals that flanked the library door.

He knocked. No answer.

He pushed the door open… it had been standing ajar. The room inside was halfway shrouded in darkness. The only source of light came from the fireplace, which was about to burn out.

Naruto moved into the room as quietly as he could.

“Hello? Is anybody here?”

There was a grunt, and then Ginjiro sat up from where he’d been asleep at his desk.

He narrowed his eyes at Naruto.

“What are you doing here, Mei? Didn’t I explicitly ask not to be disturbed?”

Naruto tried desperately to think of an excuse. 

“I, ah… I thought you might have fallen asleep. It’s late, and…”

Ginjiro stood and reached out for something at the edge of his desk. His hand closed on air, and he stared in disbelief at his empty hand.

Naruto was starting to wonder if the man had lost it when he suddenly started shouting.

“My walking stick! Where is it?”

He turned on Naruto and in two long strides he was in front of him, pushing him up against the wall, one strong hand at his throat.

“You took it!” He spat. “You traitorous little bitch!”

He was pressed up close to Naruto, his foul breath fanning over his face, and in the shock of the moment Naruto simply flailed.

“I didn’t take it!” He squealed. “I promise!”

Ginjiro glared at him, but then he let go of him just as suddenly as he had grabbed him, and took a few steps away from him.

“You’re right. You wouldn’t be as stupid as to stay here if you had.” He watched Naruto with intent but cold eyes. “On the other hand, if you wanted to avoid suspicion, the smartest thing to do would be to stay here and let someone else do the dirty work.”

“Why would I take you stupid walking stick?” Naruto spat. Now that the shock had passed, he was starting to get angry.

Anger flashed in Ginjiro’s eyes. He took a threatening step closer to Naruto.

“If you take that tone with me again…”

Naruto wasn’t afraid of him, and he didn’t back down. “Then what?” he said.

The old man lashed out quicker than Naruto had expected, and sent him stumbling to the floor with a cut in the lip and a bruised cheek.

Naruto looked up at the man through a curtain of black hair.

“Is this how you treat your daughter?” He hissed through the blood that flooded into his mouth.

Ginjiro laughed humorlessly. “My daughter? You’re good at playing the part Mei, but I don’t expect you to play it just that thoroughly.”

He grabbed Naruto by the front of his kimono and hauled him to his feet.

“I’m really not into the daddy kink.”

And then he kissed Naruto painfully hard.

Once again Naruto froze in shock, but not for long. When he regained his wits, he pushed the old man so hard that he went flying over his desk and toppled a couple of stacks of books and documents.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Naruto snarled. “What’s your deal, kissing your own daughter?!”

As he said it, it finally dawned on him that Mei wasn’t the old man’s daughter at all. Nevertheless, in view of his other actions so far, it didn’t make the kiss any less gross. Apparently the old man had been abusing the poor girl.Naruto only absently noticed that he’d dropped his henge. He couldn’t care less at this point.

“Was it you who sent her to distract us?” Naruto said, his voice shaking slightly with the violence of his emotions. “Is that all she means to you? She’s just someone whose body you can use as a diversion?”

The old man got unsteadily to his feet, using his desk as a support.

“What are you talking about?” He growled. “What are you doing here? Where is Mei?”

Naruto understood less and less.

If the old man hadn’t sent Mei… and someone had taken his walking stick… Something was going on here that had gone under his and Sasuke’s radar. Either way, Ginjiro didn’t seem to be in on it.

“What’s up with that walking stick?” Naruto demanded to know.

Ginjiro just bared his teeth. “Why don’t you make some use of yourself and fetch it back for me?”

He took a step closer to Naruto. Even standing a bit unsteadily on his hurt leg he managed to look intimidating.

“Unless it was you and that other fag who took it?”

Naruto felt a jolt go through his entire body at that one, simple word, as though Ginjiro had stabbed him. Then he saw red. He literally felt Kurama roar up inside of him, reacting to Naruto’s feelings as though they were his own. Naruto bared his teeth as though he was the demon fox, but he made sure that he didn’t go into beast mode. It would be unnecessary, not to mention potentially deadly for such a weak foe.

“What did you call us?” he growled.

Ginjiro actually took a step back. He looked tense, but still he didn’t look like he was about to take his words back. Naruto took a deep breath to calm himself down. He didn’t have time for this. Someone had been trying to distract him and Sasuke for some reason, possibly because they were about to steal the walking stick. Obviously, the stick was important and probably just what they had been looking for this entire time.

They needed to get ahold of it.

“I’m gonna get that walking stick back,” Naruto said. “But it’s not for your sake. And if I find out you’ve as much as touched Mei while I was gone…” he let the threat hang in the air. “I’ll be back for you,” he spat before he turned on his heel and sped back to his room.

  


\-----

Sasuke was waiting for him. He sprang to his feet from where he’d been sitting on the windowsill. 

“We need to go,” Naruto said. He hurried to collect his things. Without a word, Sasuke disappeared to his own room to grab his few belongings. 

Naruto hesitated and looked down at Mei, who was still sleeping soundly. “I’ll come back and save you,” he whispered. “I promise.” Naruto quickly explained the situation to Sasuke before they took off.

It wasn’t time for questions, so it was a good thing that they were so in tune that Sasuke didn’t even need to ask questions.

Tracking was not Naruto’s strongest side, but Sasuke activated his sharingan and started looking for clues near where the thief had breached the security line the other day. Naruto talked to the guards, but they hadn’t seen a thing.

“I found his tracks,” Sasuke said. “He’s going in the same direction as yesterday.”

They followed the weak tracks until they mysteriously disappeared at exactly the same place as the day before. It didn’t take Sasuke long to find the secret entrance.

“Genjutsu,” he muttered. “And a strong one too.”

The entrance led into an underground tunnel. It was narrow and stank of stale air and mold. Sasuke could see easily in the compact darkness, but Naruto stumbled. He grasped the back of Sasuke’s shirt, and almost collided with him when Sasuke hesitated for one step.

“What are you doing?” Sasuke said.

“I can’t see a thing,” Naruto hissed. Then he realized that one of his hands were resting on Sasuke’s waist, and quickly retracted it.“If I can hold onto your shirt, I won’t run into anything at least.”

Sasuke hesitated for only a second longer before he was off again, Naruto stumbling along behind him. But Naruto moved much quicker now that he had Sasuke as support, and when Sasuke in addition warned him of any cracks and irregularities in the floor, he practically flew along the corridor.

They emerged inside some bushes in a grove of trees near a village. Sasuke checked for traps, but found nothing.

“They didn’t expect us to follow,” he whispered.

“That was stupid of them.”

They heard some rustling nearby, and listened quietly. There were muttered voices coming from somewhere among the trees. They moved carefully closer. In the moonlight, Naruto could see more clearly and moved as quietly as Sasuke.

From between a few low branches, they saw two men stand among the shadows of the trees.

“They won’t follow me,” a voice that they recognized said. It was the voice of the black clad thief.

“Are you sure?” a deeper, male voice said.

The thief chuckled. “They’re never gonna find the secret passage.”

“You obviously don’t understand whom you’re dealing with. Now, give me that.”

The man in the shadows grabbed something from the thief’s hands. It was the walking stick. It glinted dully in the weak moonlight.

“Come on. Let’s get away from here before they find us.”

The two men set off towards the village. Once they were out of the shadows, Naruto could make out their faces a bit more clearly. One of the men was short and looked to be about his mid fifties, while the other one was taller and younger, and had a confident spring in his step. It was no doubt that the youngest one was their thief.

They followed them at a distance, and the two men seemed none the wiser. They went into a small town that lay nearby and disappeared down the stairs to a seedy bar. Sasuke and Naruto hung back. They watched the entrance to the bar from a narrow side street.

“What should we do?” Naruto said. “We can’t just stroll right in there… Should we wait till they come back out?”

Sasuke looked as uncertain as Naruto felt.

“We could henge,” Naruto said.

“Yeah… But let’s wait for a bit. You can bring me up to date with what happened with Ginjiro.”

“Oh…” Naruto slumped against the dirty wall of stone next to him. “Yeah, about that… Turns out Mei weren’t really his daughter.” He bit his lip. He didn’t really want to tell Sasuke about what had happened… It felt… embarrassing, for some reason. “He freaked out about his walking stick being gone and accused Mei for stealing it, but then he said that she wouldn’t be as stupid as to stay if she’d done it. Then he seemed to think that someone else had done the dirty work for her.”

“Why would he think Mei had stolen it?” Sasuke said. “And why was she there if she wasn’t his daughter?”

“I’m not sure… I don’t think she was his lover either,” Naruto said. “Though… He, um… He acted abusively… Grabbed me and…” It was difficult to make himself say it. “Uh… Yeah.”

Sasuke became quiet. Naruto glanced at him and was surprised to find him staring right at him, a strange expression passing over his face before he reined it in.

“He grabbed you?” he said calmly. “How?”

Naruto shook his head. He kept his eyes fixed on the doorway to the bar. “Just… You know… It was nothing. I mean, it was me, not her, so it’s okay.”

Sasuke was quiet for a long moment and when he spoke again his voice shook slightly, as though he could barely control his emotions. “It’s not okay,” he said. “Don’t brush it away like it’s nothing.”

Naruto was so surprised by the anger in Sasuke’s voice that he just stared at him. 

Sasuke averted his gaze. “Don’t downplay it just because you know you could have fought him and won. He still fucking touched you without permission.”

Naruto was glad he hadn’t told Sasuke about the kiss when he got this worked up over a touch. He was touched that Sasuke cared so much, though. He’d thought he’d just handle it with professional effectiveness like he did with everything else. 

“What do you think about Mei, though?” Naruto said, steering the conversation back to what mattered right now. “Could she be behind it?”

“I thought there was something off about her,” Sasuke said. “She was unusually quick and silent. I’ve suspected her for a while, but I’m not sure what she’s after. I’ve got a feeling that we’ve walked into something that’s bigger than we thought.”

“You suspected her all along? How could you guess that? I thought she just seemed like a sweet, ordinary girl…”

Sasuke snorted and managed to make the simple sound seem very derisive.

“What?” Naruto grumbled. He hated it when Sasuke made fun of him for being slow.

“It doesn’t surprise me that you didn’t suspect her,” Sasuke said. “You were too smitten.”

“Whaaat? I wasn’t! How did you get that into your head?”

“It was easy to see,” Sasuke said testily. “You blushed every time she looked at you.”

“I did?” Naruto scratched his chin. “Well, I was kinda uncomfortable with the way she looked at me. She has really intense eyes and she kept watching me all the time...”

“You talked about her all the time,” Sasuke pointed out.

Naruto shrugged. “She seemed like a sweet girl. And she was really pretty, no one can deny that. Why does it bother you so much, anyway? Did you have your sights set on her?”

“No,” Sasuke said sharply. “I was just worried you’d blow our mission.”

“I thought she came on a bit too strong, anyway,” Naruto said. “It made me a bit uncomfortable when she just showed up in my room… I thought that Ginjiro might have sent her, but he didn’t seem to know anything about it. He could be lying, though.”

Sasuke stared intently at the entrance to the bar. “I think we should go in,” he said. “We could risk letting them get away if there’s a back door and they suspected they were being followed…”

“Didn’t seem like they suspected anything, though. They didn’t look behind them even once when they walked here.”

Sasuke frowned. “If we henge, they won’t suspect anything and we could get close to them, maybe even get something out of them.”

Naruto hesitated. This was not part of their job-description, and they had no idea who they were dealing with, but that walking stick could be important… Sasuke was right. This was their chance to get close to them. “Okay,” he said. He thought for a moment. “Let’s try the sexy jutsu. It seems like the kinda place that’s frequented by men. Maybe we can get an advantage.”

Sasuke sighed, but then there was a puff of smoke, and suddenly a strikingly beautiful, tall woman stood where Sasuke had just been. She had long, black hair that looked soft and shiny as silk, and she was wearing a black dress that accentuated her slender figure.

Naruto stared at him with equal parts dismay and reluctant admiration.

“Should have known you’d ace that jutsu too.”

“It’s not that difficult,” Sasuke drawled. Even as a woman, his voice was deep and slightly hoarse, and very, very sexy.

Naruto henged too, but into a slightly less flashy version of his usual sexy jutsu.

His long hair hung in loose waves around his shoulders, and his voluptuous figure was clad in a knee-length, skin-tight, orange and black dress.

“You couldn’t think of anything more eye-catching to wear?” Sasuke said drily.

Naruto ignored him. He walked confidently towards the stairs down to the bar in high heels that already felt like they were killing his feet. The eyes of the poor bouncer looked about to pop out of his head when he saw the two of them.

Naruto grinned flirtatiously and swung his hips as he approached the man. “We’re looking for somewhere we can have a good time,” he said in his most throaty voice. “I’ve heard this is the place to go.”

The guard visibly had to swallow. He seemed to have trouble keeping his eyes away from Naruto’s cleavage. Apparently they didn’t see beautiful women too often in this town. Eventually he regained control of his motor skills, and was suddenly overly eager to show them the way down the stairs. Naruto winked at him as he passed him. Sasuke just sauntered past like an ethereal manifestation from some other dimension, somehow managing to make walking down the slippery, uneven stairs in high heels look as easy as going for a walk in the park.

The bar was cluttered and dimly lit, and the air was foggy with cigarette smoke. As Naruto had thought, the locale was filled mostly with men. They were bound to stand out, but hopefully it would be to their advantage.

“Do you see our guys?” Naruto whispered in Sasuke’s ear.They were both scanning the locale for him.

“No,” Sasuke said. “We should take a round around the room, check if there’s anywhere they could have slipped away or hidden.”

They split up and prowled the room, well aware that they were drawing the attention of every person in the locale. Naruto enjoyed the attention. Some of the men were attractive. One of them came over to him and tried to chat him up, but Naruto rejected him with a wink and the words, “I’m waiting for someone.”

The man promised that he’d show him a good time if his mystery man didn’t show up, but Naruto was already walking away from him. He met up with Sasuke again at the bar where they ordered drinks to uphold the impression of normalcy.

“We’re drawing too much attention,” Naruto said through his teeth without his smile wavering.

“You’re sitting like a man,” Sasuke admonished softly. He nudged Naruto’s thigh.

Naruto blushed and crossed his legs, not because he was worried anyone had looked up his skirt, but because Sasuke had touched his skin, and so casually at that.

“Did you see them?” Naruto said.

“No, but I found a door that could lead to a different locale. I tried to open it, but I was stopped by a guard.”

“Are we just waiting for him to come back out, then?”

“Ideally, we should have henged into someone less eye catching so that we could try to sneak through there,” Sasuke said, “but it’d be too noticeable if we went into the bathroom and henged again. Everyone’s eyes are on us now.”

The bartender came over with their drinks and Naruto leaned forward, smiling. “Excuse me, have you seen a short man in his fifties come in here tonight? He was together with a younger man.” He twined a lock of hair around his finger and made sure his boobs were squeezed up and on display. “We were supposed to meet them here but I haven’t seen them. Maybe they left again?”

“No, the guys you’re looking for were here a few minutes ago,” the bartender said in a friendly tone. “They went straight into the Cellar.”

“Oh! Can you show me the way?”

The bartender hesitated.

“The Cellar is only for VIP members.”

“I think they’re gonna be very happy to see me and my friend,” Naruto said and boldly placed one hand on Sasuke’s thigh. If it surprised Sasuke, he didn’t show it. He just stirred his iced drink calmly, wearing a bored expression.

Naruto winked at the bartender. “So don’t worry.”

The bartender hesitated for a bit longer. His eyes drifted to Sasuke. After a moment he nodded. “I might be able to sneak you down there… for the right price.” His eyes lingered on Sasuke, who was a bit slow in getting the underlying meaning. When he did, his eyes widened. He stared the man down with the look of doom. Naruto hurried to nudge Sasuke, which made him cut the eye contact before his sharingan appeared.

“Our friends doesn’t really like sloppy seconds,” Naruto said, hoping the guys they had followed were someone respected. “So I’m not sure that’s such a good idea…”

The bartender didn’t look pleased. “I’m just asking for a kiss.” He was staring at Sasuke with a hungry gaze that got Naruto’s blood boiling. He swallowed down the biting remark that was hovering at the tip of his tongue. Sasuke would have to decide this.

For a second Sasuke looked oddly vulnerable. Then he strengthened his resolve and put on his usual expressionless, yet slightly overbearing mask.

“Fine,” he said and stood.

The bartender almost stumbled after him in his eagerness, uncaring that he was leaving the bar unattended. Naruto followed at a distance, just to make sure Sasuke would be okay. Logically, he knew that the bartender was in more danger than Sasuke was, but emotionally he couldn’t help but want to protect Sasuke.

Sasuke led the bartender to the hallway outside the toilets, where they were shielded from curious eyes. The second he turned to face the man, he was over him, pressing him against the wall and pushing his tongue into his mouth. Sasuke clenched the man’s biceps, and even though he looked like he wanted to push him off, he didn’t. The bartender forced himself closer until his body was smothering Sasuke.

Naruto’s hands clenched. He felt like punching something, preferably the opportunist that was trying to choke his friend with his tongue, but he had to stand back. For the mission. Sasuke would tell the man off if it became too much.

Something that Sasuke had said outside before they went in suddenly flashed through Naruto’s memory. ‘Don’t brush it away as if it’s nothing.’ He had sounded really upset. Naruto had thought it was because he cared about Naruto, which had touched him, but perhaps there was more to it than that… Perhaps he also had been subjected to the same thing.

Naruto realized they were making a huge mistake. He couldn’t see Sasuke’s face, but he could see his white knuckles where he clutched the bartender’s jacket.

The bartender’s hand snaked in between their stomachs, lowering, fumbling, and Naruto had had enough. He took a step closer, a harsh warning on the tip of his tongue, just as Sasuke pushed the man.

“We agreed on just a kiss,” Sasuke said. His voice was low and steely, but there was something else underneath, something vulnerable and frightened.

The bartender was panting. “Just hold it for a bit. It’ll be quick.”

Naruto strode forward, but Sasuke raised one hand, stopping him. Then he drew a kunai from seemingly nowhere and pressed it against the man’s jugular.

“Put your fucking dick back in your pants. I kept my part of the deal, now you keep yours.”

The man was panting and his forehead was dotted with sweat. He gave one short nod. Sasuke lowered the kunai and slid it back under his skirt.

The man was very meek as he showed them to the door to the Cellar and told the guard to let them through. As they walked down into the darkness, the heavy metal door closed behind them with a cold clang.

The second the door closed, Sasuke stopped walking. He hunched over, placing one hand on his thigh. He was breathing harshly.

Naruto didn’t know what to do. He knew that showing concern would only piss Sasuke off, so he placed one hand very gently on Sasuke’s back without saying a word. It took only a few seconds for Sasuke to collect himself, and then he straightened up and continued walking like nothing had happened.

At the bottom of the stairs, a short hallway led into a big, circular room. The room was full of crates so it must have been used for storage once, but now a space was cleared in the middle of the room where a couple of tables and benches were placed. There weren’t many people there. In addition to the two men Sasuke and Naruto had followed, there were five more persons. They all had red jackets and were without a doubt ninja. Some of them wore swords, and one had what looked like a whip corded at his hip.

Naruto and Sasuke stopped in the doorway. There was no point in trying to hide; they had been heard as they came down the stairs. Evidently, the assembled gang hadn’t expected to see two women in high heels. Most of them looked puzzled, though some still looked suspicious.

Naruto walked forward, putting on a disarming smile.“Good evening, gentlemen.” He nodded towards the only woman in the room. “Lady.”

“How did you get down here?” Said the oldest of the men they had followed. He was apparently the leader, though he wasn’t wearing the same getup as the others, nor had he any weapons.

“The bartender was so nice and let us in,” Naruto said. “Now, I think you have something that belongs to someone else.” He looked at the walking stick, which was still in the old man’s hand. “Hand it over.”

The old man sneered. “Who are you? This is a private meeting. You have no right to…”

“Hiroshi,” said one of the others. It was a tall man wearing two slender swords in a cross on his back. “That is the Konoha Jinchuuriki.”

The old man blinked and stared at Naruto.

“The whisker marks,” said a big man with a black belt tied around his belly. “It’s him.”

Everyone in the room shrunk back a bit. Everyone except the thief and the old man; Hiroshi. Hiroshi looked defiant while the thief looked eager.

“This is the Blood Clan,” Sasuke murmured. He had moved up close to Naruto without him noticing, yet Naruto wasn’t surprised. Something in him always knew where he had Sasuke, even when Sasuke moved so silently that all his other senses failed to keep track of him.

“You know them?” Naruto whispered.

“I’ve only heard of them. They’re infamous for attacking the rich and wealthy, and for taking down drug rings and stopping human trafficking.”

“Huh…” That didn’t sound so bad.

“They’re also known for being vicious and almost bestial in their methods,” Sasuke added. “And for not shying away from killing innocent people for the sake of the mission.”

Naruto understood what Sasuke was saying. Although the gang’s vigilante actions were in the name of justice, they were not good people. They were still coldblooded murderers, thus the walking stick, whatever its significance was, could be very dangerous in their hands.

“Hand over the walking stick and we won’t hurt you,” Naruto said loudly.

One of the smaller members of the gang stood and came closer. It was the woman.

“Or what?” she said. “You’re two against seven here. You don’t stand a chance. Just walk calmly away and we’ll all forget about this.”

“Yuuna,” one of the others hissed. “He’s the _jinchuuriki_. They say he fought the war and won singlehanded.”

Sasuke snorted, but even that didn’t put a damper on the swell of pride in Naruto felt.

“Where’s the proof of who she is? I only see a pretentious woman in a tight dress. Those whisker marks could be painted on to distract us.”

“Hey!” Naruto pouted at the pretentious-comment.

“It’ll be your loss if you don’t listen to us,” Sasuke said, his voice carrying firmly in the lofty room. “We don’t want a fight. Just hand over the walking stick and we’ll be on our way.”

“We can’t,” Hiroshi said. “It is too valuable to us. Please… Leave us be. This is not your fight.”

“But you’re in Konoha’s territory, aren’t you?” Sasuke said. “And you stole from a citizen of the fire country. I’d say it is our fight.”

“You don’t know what he has done!” Yuuna shouted. “You don’t know who he really is! He deserves to be robbed blind. He’s gotten all that money through the abuse of innocent and defenseless humans. Humans like me. I was an orphan and they kidnapped me because they knew that no one would miss me. They kept me imprisoned for fifteen years before I managed to escape, and in those years I was forced to do the most unspeakable things! This is the man that you’re defending! This is your _innocent_ citizen of fire country.”

Naruto was dumbstruck. He was grateful when Sasuke took the word, because he had no idea how to justify what they were doing after that speech.

“If you hand it over to us,” Sasuke said, “We’ll take care of this man. We’ll bring him to justice.”

“And what’s your idea of justice?” Yuuna spat. “To reprimand him and send him on his merry way so that he can ruin someone else’s life? Do you think I don’t know how useless the system is? If you bring his case up in court, he’ll walk free in no time. He’ll buy his freedom and no one will ask any more questions.”

“I give you my word; this man will be brought to justice,” Sasuke said, and something in his voice made even Naruto turn to look at him. His sharingan was spinning in his blood red irises and for a moment he looked almost demonic. “I’ll see to it myself.”

Sasuke walked forward, his movements as measured and calm as though there was no hurry. He took the walking stick from Hiroshi’s frozen hands. The old man stared straight ahead, unseeing, caught in a genjutsu like all the rest.

“Let’s go,” Sasuke said calmly and strode past Naruto, not once looking back.

\-----

They didn’t speak again until they were far away from the town.

“What do we do now?” Naruto asked when Sasuke finally stopped in a meadow in the middle of the woods. He had been running in the opposite direction of Ginjiro’s place, and though Naruto wasn’t sure if he was aware of that or not, he said nothing

They henged back to themselves the second they left the town. Naruto sort of missed being in a woman’s body because he got a lot of positive attention from men when he did, and he liked that. He’d seen a few handsome guys in that bar, and he’d played with the thought of flirting a bit more with some of them. If only they weren’t on a mission…

He sat down in the cold grass and kept an eye on Sasuke. He still hadn’t turned off his sharingan.

“Are you okay?” he asked carefully. It was never easy to tell how Sasuke would react when he was in this kind of mood, but they didn’t have the luxury of having a breakdown right now. Those ninja could come after them at any moment.

Finally, Sasuke focused on Naruto. It was like he came back from a place far, far away. His eyes faded to black. He looked down at the walking stick in his hands.

“There must be something hidden inside this,” he said. “I doubt that the Blood Clan was after the gold.”

He sat down next to Naruto and started twisting and fiddling with the cane.

Naruto lay down in the grass and stared up at the starlit sky. After the anticlimax of their escape, he felt how wound up he was and how desperately he needed to let out some steam. He glanced over at Sasuke, who was completely focused on what he was doing. Spending this much time with Sasuke, and with those pervy books and pictures at the old man’s place, and the flirting earlier… He turned away from Sasuke and thought wistfully of the alone time he could’ve had if Mei hadn’t interrupted him earlier that day.

If he was going to survive in the company of such a stick in the mud as Sasuke for much longer, he’d need an outlet. He wisely chose not to think about the fact that Sasuke was the main reason for his need for an outlet.

Sasuke poked him. “Are you gonna help me or what?”

Naruto grumbled. Sasuke knew that puzzles weren’t his strong suit. He sat up and took the cane from Sasuke’s hands. He stared at it for half a minute before he looked up at Sasuke and said, “I have no idea where to start. I’m too tired to think right now.”

Sasuke testily snatched back the walking stick. “Then you can take a nap. I’ll keep watch.”

“Right here?” Naruto grimaced. “But the ground is cold and wet…”

“Are you a ninja or a baby?” Sasuke snapped.

Grumbling, Naruto found himself a nice, big tree and curled up in his sleeping bag near its roots, where the ground was drier. He fell asleep immediately. When he woke up a while later, the night was turning into dawn and he was frozen through. Yet, he found that his back was less cold, almost like he was resting against something warm. He glanced over his shoulder. Sasuke was sitting right behind him, leant against the trunk of the tree. The gilded walking stick was resting on his knees.

In the dull morning light, he looked tired.

Naruto groaned as he sat up and stretched to get rid of the kink in his back.

“Do you want to sleep?” he asked Sasuke. “You look like you need it.”

Sasuke barely had the energy to send him a half-hearted glare. Then he handed Naruto a slender piece of rolled up paper. “This was in the cane.”

Naruto grabbed it and nearly tore it open.

“Careful!” Sasuke said. “The paper is old and worn.”

Naruto flattened the paper in his lap. He stared at it for a long moment. “It’s just a map,” he said, unable to hide his disappointment. It wasn’t even a good map. It showed only one route, and the whole thing was drawn more like a child’s treasure map than a proper map. There were even drawings of different creatures in the woods and in the mountains.

“We’re here,” Sasuke said and pointed to a spot at the bottom of the map, right next to a huge forest that was called the Forest of Whispers.

“Is this a real map?” Naruto said. The name of that forest seemed familiar, but he couldn’t remember where he’d heard it. He just knew that it gave him the chills.

“It’s old,” Sasuke said, “but it’s real. Look, the town we were in? It’s this one, Hollow Village. And up here,” he pointed at a mark on the left side of the map, “is Ginjiro’s mansion. Even the secret passage is penned in.”

“Whoa… So… it’s a real treasure map?”

“You could say so,” a female voice said from behind them.

They both leapt to their feet and spun so they were facing the meadow. In the middle of it stood a slender, small woman in a red coat with a hood that hid her face. Two persons flanked her; one of them was the thief, and the other one was Yuuna.

“It is definitely a treasure to old Ginjiro.” The woman pulled the hood back. Naruto gaped. The woman looked different than he remembered her, with that smirk on her face and dressed in something else but a kimono. “Or, as you know him,” Mei said, “My dear father.”


	5. Into the Unknown

“Mei!?” Naruto managed to stutter after a long moment of tense silence.

She just shrugged. “You didn’t suspect the sweet, innocent girl, did you? Lucky for me.”

“B-but… What are you doing here?”

Mei sighed. “I think you’ll understand it if you think a bit harder about it.”

“Where’s Ginjiro?” Sasuke asked. “What did you do to him?”

Naruto stared at him. What kind of a question was that?

“The old perv is fine,” Mei said. “For now. He suspected something but he never could have guessed that I easily could have killed him if I wanted to. He was just so paranoid that he mistrusted everyone."

“What kind of competition is it that he fears?” Sasuke said.

“What’s going on here?!” Naruto yelled.

Sasuke lifted one hand in a sharp motion, letting Naruto know that he needed to shut up. Naruto bit down his protests. Sasuke seemed to know what to do, so Naruto just had to trust him.

Mei chuckled. “You two are almost like an old, married couple with the way you communicate without saying anything.” She sighed. “It was just my luck that the two ninja I decided to seduce were gay. Even that old bastard Ginjiro realized it before me. Oh well, it doesn’t matter in the end anyway.” She held out one dainty little hand. “Hand over the map, please.”

“No way!” Naruto said.

“What do you want with it?” Sasuke asked calmly.

“Why, to find what’s at the end, naturally,” Mei chuckled and her two friends did the same.

“And what’s at the end?”

Mei shrugged. “No one knows, except that Ginjiro wants it desperately, and that’s why I want to find it first.”

“Just hand it over,” the thief snapped. “Or we’ll take it.”

“Yeah, because that worked so well last time,” Naruto said. “We’re two against three now. Even worse odds than before.” Just as he said it, the rest of the Blood Clan came out of the woods and stood behind Mei. They all carefully avoided looking into Sasuke’s eyes.

“What did Ginjiro do to you?” Sasuke said. “Why do you hate him so much?”

“What’s not to hate?” Mei said coldly. “He owns illegal brothels, or ‘clubs’ as they’re called. He deals in human trafficking and drugs. He’s responsible for the kidnapping of my sister and me when we were kids, and for letting us grow up in a living hell. And he’s responsible for my sisters death.” She spat the last words. “So if you want to do something good for humanity, then hand over that map. I won’t ask again.”

Naruto stared at her soft, little hand. It was like a doll’s hand. So frail and pretty, and yet, that hand was capable of killing. “No,” he said. Suddenly, everyone’s attention was on him. “I understand that you have been hurt,” he said. “And I understand that you want to ruin him. But…” He glanced quickly over at Sasuke, whose face looked like it was cut from stone. Naruto raised his voice. “But Sasuke was right when he said that you should leave it to us. It’s our job to deal with people like this. It’s our job to make sure he’s held responsible for what he’s done. And we will.”

“A thousand deaths wouldn’t be enough punishment for him,” Mei said coldly. “I want to do it myself. I want to look him in the face when he dies, so that I can make sure it only happens after he’s suffered for his crime. A life in prison is too merciful for someone like him. Even death would be too easy. I want him to live in pain, immeasurable pain, until he has learned what it really means to hurt. And I’m gonna start with taking away from him everything that he loves.”

Naruto couldn’t help but think of Sasuke. He’d seen this kind of pain before, and he understood the wish to hurt someone who had ruined you. He really did. He had made an effort to really understand Sasuke, and though he never truly could understand that pain and that hatred, he could almost feel it when he looked into the eyes of such a broken soul.

“You’re not alone in this pain,” Naruto said softly. “I’m sure people are standing in line to get a chance to kill that man. If you let us take care of this, we’ll make sure he gets his punishment on behalf of everyone he has hurt.”

“Bullshit,” Mei spat. She lifted her arm and something flew from it, something black and green and flashy. ”Get the jinchuuriki!” she cried.

Sasuke dodged the projectile she had thrown at him and it hit a tree so hard that the trunk exploded. Naruto felt a splinter the size of a kunai graze his cheek.

“Hey!” Naruto yelled. “I’m fed up of people calling me the jinchuuriki! My name is Naruto, okay! Remember it!” With that he entered Kurama mode, and Kurama’s golden chakra flared up around him.

Mei swore.

“Jirou!” She yelled. One of the men standing in line behind her flew forward. The others started moving too. They attacked in formation and were surprisingly quick and agile, but Naruto had no problem tracking and dodging them. He didn’t want to hurt them since he didn’t feel like they were his enemies, but he couldn’t let them get the map either. He had considered standing back and giving them what they wanted, but Sasuke’s words had stuck with him.

‘They won’t shy away from killing innocent people if they stand in their way.’

Unfortunately, he could imagine that too easily. When someone was as consumed with hatred as these people were, they could do just about anything to reach their goal.

Suddenly Naruto realized that seven out of eight ninja were on him. Where was the last one, and where was Sasuke? Naruto heaved three of the ninja out of the way, and caught a glimpse of Mei and Sasuke a little way off. Sasuke was kneeling, and Mei was standing over him, holding what looked like a black whip crackling with an acidic green energy, and the whip was curled around Sasuke.

In a burst of energy, Naruto threw all the seven ninja clear up into the air, not caring where or how they landed, and hurtled towards Sasuke. Mei was placing her hand on Sasuke’s shoulder, at the juncture of his neck and shoulder, just where his curse mark used to be.

“What are you doing to him?!” Naruto roared.

He felt a stab in his right shoulder, and turned in surprise to see a dagger sticking out from his shoulder blade. Thinking no more of it, because in his state he could barely feel the pain, he turned back to Mei, grabbed her with Kurama’s energy, and threw her straight across the meadow.

Sasuke slumped as the whip loosened and fell to the ground. He clutched his shoulder and struggled for a moment with getting to his feet.

Naruto touched him with his chakra to heal him, before he saw to himself. He pulled the dagger out of his shoulder and threw it down on the ground.

”They’re too dangerous,” he heard Mei shout. ”Fall back!”

”But we got the Uchiha!” Someone cried.

”Never mind him! Fall back before that demon blasts us out of here!”

Naruto felt half tempted to collect them all, tie them up, and throw them into jail for that demon comment, but he realized he couldn’t do that, not when they were fighting against evil deeds with more zealousness in their little toe than a whole squad of government officers.

He let them go. He had to see to Sasuke anyway. He knelt next to him and steadied him. Sasuke was breathing heavily and clutching his shoulder.

“What happened?” Naruto said. “Can you walk?”

They needed to get away to somewhere they wouldn’t be bothered by anyone. Sasuke nodded and stood shakily. Naruto steadied him through the woods until they reached a path. Sasuke was heavy against Naruto’s side. They’d need to rest someplace. He led them off into the forest until he found a place with cover from a thick of birch trees.He rolled out their sleeping mats and their sleeping bags, and Sasuke lay down. Naruto offered him some water, which he accepted.

“What happened?” Naruto said. “How did you get this way?”

“I’m not sure… Mei targeted me while the others went for you. She tried to catch me with that whip. I thought I dodged it easily, but suddenly it was curling around me and I couldn’t move.” He rubbed his forehead. “I’ve been feeling a bit… off lately. Remember that time when you almost touched me before I woke up?”

“Yeah… I knocked but you slept so heavily that you didn’t wake up. I thought it was strange.”

“At first I thought…” Sasuke cut himself off, looking at Naruto with a curiously vulnerable expression on his face.

“What?” Naruto said.

Sasuke shook his head. “No… I just thought I had gotten so used to your chakra that I didn’t become alert to it.”

Naruto felt his heart skip a beat.

“When Mei caught me with that whip,” Sasuke continued, “she said something that made me realize that she had put something in our food. It must have been fatal to her plan that we showed up, but she had us completely at her mercy. She could easily have slipped us something.”

“But what?” Naruto said. “And why did it only affect you?”

“There are some toxins that damage the nerves and the chakra patterns. They are very dangerous, though, and must be handled carefully. They could throw my chakra off kilter, and with that my reactions. The more I consumed, the worse it would get. If she slipped me only very little each time, I’d hardly notice until it was too late. I’m not sure why they didn’t work on you, but I’m guessing that Kurama’s chakra is protecting you.”

“But I thought you were immune to most poisons.”

“That’s another interesting thing. She knew a little too much about me. She knew what toxins I’m vulnerable to, and she knew where my curse mark had been. My chakra is still susceptible in that part of my skin. She did something…” He rubbed the skin and flinched. “It feels like something’s etched into my skin, like a leech. It’s either a curse or a brand.” Sasuke removed his hand. He had a dark mark there. It almost looked like a burn mark. The skin around it was red and swollen. It was difficult to make out what it looked like because it was as though it moved, never keeping one specific form.

“Looks like a brand,” Naruto said. He leant closer to get a better look. “I can’t make out what type it is. I wish I’d read up more in this kind of things…”

“It can’t be that powerful. Mei might be strong, but not that strong. I should be able to break it as soon as I regain some strength.”

Neither of them mentioned what they both feared the most; that the brand was put there to keep his chakra from flowing properly. If it did, then Sasuke wouldn’t be able to break it by himself, and Naruto had too little knowledge about it and not enough finesse to be of much help.

Sasuke slept while Naruto kept watch until midday, and then they continued on. After getting some sleep, Sasuke at least had enough energy to keep up a decent running speed. According to the map they either had to go back through Hollow Village, or they could take a short cut through the Forest of Whispers.

There was only one problem.

“Wait…” Naruto stopped in his tracks. “Now I remember where I heard about the Forest of Whispers. Isn’t that the forest that is said to be haunted?”

The look Sasuke was giving him told Naruto exactly how foolish he thought he was being.

“I’m not kidding!” Naruto said. “According to legends, a huge battle was held here. Thousands of warriors fell, all because their daimyo was desperate to find some sort of magical well or something.”

“Do you mean the fountain of youth?” Sasuke said.

Naruto shrugged. “How should I know? I barely paid attention to history lessons. I just remembered the name of this place because it’s said to still be haunted by hungry spirits that capture unsuspecting travellers and suck their soul out.”

Sasuke tch-ed. “Do you really believe in that bullshit?”

“I’m just saying that a lot of people have gotten lost in this forest. So perhaps we should just… skip around it?”

“That’ll take too long. If we go around, it’ll take us an extra day, and that’s only if we aren’t attacked.”

“That kind of thinking is exactly how all those people got lost in there.”

Sasuke shook his head and continued walking. Naruto jogged to catch up with him.

“I don’t like this,” he muttered. “What’s the story of the fountain of youth, anyway?”

“Just a stupid myth, like those ghost warriors of yours.”

“Tell me anyway. I want to know.”

Sasuke sighed. “Hundreds of years ago, it was said that the fountain of youth was to be found in the deepest recesses of the most impenetrable mountain. Of course, that meant everyone was desperate to get to it. It’s true that the daimyo of Fire and the daimyo of Wind fought over this place in order to be the first to obtain the fountain of youth. Needless to say, they never obtained anything but the deaths of thousands, and eventually the fountain of youth was forgotten.”

“How do you know all of this?”

“Because unlike you, I actually paid attention in history class.”

“Hey…” Naruto glanced at the map sticking out of Sasuke’s pocket. “You don’t think that this is the map to the fountain of youth?”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “You’ll believe anything, won’t you? It obviously leads to something important, otherwise people wouldn’t be so eager to get ahold of it, but I doubt it’s the fountain of youth.”

They kept a steady pace through the woods, but although it felt like they walked for hours, the lighting stayed the same. They couldn’t see the sun because a grey haze lay over the sky, hiding the sun and dulling the light. There were no shadows. The grey, scrawny and twisted trees that surrounded them on all sides looked all the same, and the ground was dry and barren.

“I don’t like this place,” Naruto muttered. “We haven’t seen a living creature for ages. Listen… What do you hear?”

“A whiny moron,” Sasuke grumbled.

“No, except from that! Listen. There are no sounds. No wind rustling the leaves, no birds singing, no trickle from a creek.”

They both stopped to listen.

The silence was so complete that their breathing sounded like an insult to their ears.

Sasuke frowned. “I still don’t believe in your ghosts,” he said. “But something is off here.”

“I told you this place was bad…”

They continued on, but no matter how far they walked, their surroundings never changed. The stopped to eat several times, and at last they grew so tired that they had to rest, but even then the sky never changed. It remained dull and grey, even as Naruto kept watch while Sasuke slept.

\-----

“I swear we have passed that tree stump before,” Naruto said 

“That’s the third time you say that,” Sasuke grumbled.

The trees were too thin and frail for them to climb up and get a good overview, and when Sasuke had tried to summon a hawk, he’d experienced such a crippling pain in his neck that he passed out for a moment. He didn’t try that again.

It was getting painfully obvious that they were in deep shit. The only thing they could do was to trust their compass, because at this point it was their last hope. 

Suddenly Naruto jumped forward so that he was pressed right up against Sasuke’s back.

“I swear I heard something breathe,” he whimpered.

“Don’t be stupid,” Sasuke admonished, but he scanned the forest around them with keen eyes. He didn’t dare activate the sharingan. It took too much chakra.

“It was probably just the…” he trailed off because he’d been about to blame it on the wind, but they both knew too well that during the twenty-four or so hours they’d been wandering around in this forest, there had never been as much as a breath of fresh air. The air was stale and stagnant like old syrup.

“Wait, stop,” Naruto said and grabbed Sasuke’s arm. “Listen.”

They stopped. Sasuke closed his eyes and focused fully on his other senses. His skin felt clammy and his body ached. The brand burned with a slow, ominous pulse. He felt weary to his bones, and the silence seemed to be hammering against his eardrums.

“This place is cursed,” he said.

The fact that Naruto didn’t gloat about being right was just another reminder of how serious the situation was.

“There!” Naruto whispered. “Did you hear that?”

Sasuke concentrated harder. The fact that he couldn’t hear whatever it was even in this pressing silence was concerning. But just when he thought that Naruto was imagining things, he heard it too. It was like a deep, long breath, as though the earth itself was sighing in pain. The sound was subtle, nothing more than the gentlest of breezes, and yet Sasuke almost felt the earth shudder under his feet.

He and Naruto looked at each other. He could see the panic in Naruto’s eyes. This was something they couldn’t fight, even if they both had been at their full potential. They just had to pray that it, whatever it was, would let them pass through unhindered.

\-----

Another day passed, or so they assumed. They kept walking, even though they were getting more tired by the hour. Their water supplies were diminishing, but they had yet to come across a water source 

“Sasuke,” Naruto said softly at one point.

Sasuke felt like he’d been walking on autopilot for the past few hours. He wanted to sleep but no matter how often he slept, he never felt rested. He turned and came over to Naruto, who had stopped next to something on the ground. He bent down and pulled a kunai with a scrap of orange cloth tied to it out of a tree stump. When he stood again, Sasuke could see how ashen he had become.

“I stuck this kunai into that tree stump the last time we passed by it,” Naruto said. “We’ve been walking in circles all this time.”

Sasuke turned away from Naruto. He looked around at the nondescript, grey trees that surrounded them as far as he could see. How could it be that such a quiet, calm place could seem so threatening?

He didn’t know what to do. Obviously, something was fucking with their compass.

They sat down, both of them too exhausted and dejected to move even a finger anymore. They sat there, shoulder to shoulder, and Naruto let his head drop onto Sasuke’s shoulder. Sasuke rested his head against Naruto’s.

Since he didn’t know what else to do, Sasuke took out their real, normal map and unfolded it in his lap. He studied it for a long moment, but he couldn’t figure out where they were. After a while he nudged Naruto and asked him to look, but Naruto had no idea either.

Without a word from either of them Sasuke folded up the map and tucked it away. No map and no compass… They were truly screwed.

“We have another map,” Naruto said after a while.

Sasuke was puzzled for a moment before he realized what Naruto was hinting towards. “The treasure map? How’s that gonna help us?” It was worth a try though. He didn’t really think it would help them, but now it was their last piece of hope.

He studied the map with dulled eyes, barely paying attention to what he was seeing. 

Naruto had started nibbling on their rations and passed half eaten crackers over to Sasuke. Normally, Sasuke wouldn’t have accepted anything with someone else’s saliva all over it, but right now he didn’t care. The food cleared his mind, if only by a little. “Look at this,” he said. He pointed to the map. In the Forest of Whispers was what appeared to be a strange symbol painted on. At least, that’s what Sasuke thought it had been at first. But upon closer inspection, he realized that it was some sort of creature. It was a bit nondescript and bloated, like it didn’t have a proper shape, but it had something that looked like eyes and claws.

“What about it,” Naruto said with little interest.

Sasuke frowned. If he was right in his suspicions, then perhaps…

“Your natural affinity is wind release,” Sasuke said.

Naruto munched on another cracker. “Yeah. So?”

“Release your chakra.”

“What? Why?”

“Just try it.”

Naruto sighed but he straightened up and did as Sasuke said. The same moment he did, a brisk wind whistled through the trees. Naruto looked startled, like he thought that he was the one who did it. It stopped the second Naruto stopped releasing his chakra.

“What was that?” he whispered.

“I’m not sure…” Sasuke studied the map again. “It seems like there’s some kind of creature with a wind affinity residing here.”

“Then maybe we shouldn’t wake it up.”

“But think about it… This map is supposed to show us the way, meaning that it should be able to tell us the way out of these woods too. We just have to decipher the message.”

“Well, good luck with that.”

It was apparent that Naruto wasn’t going to be of much help.

“Are you giving up already?” Sasuke bit out. “I’d never thought you’d be such a coward.”

Naruto glared. “What are we supposed to do? We’re fucked no matter how you look at it. I told you we shouldn’t go into this place, but you didn’t listen and now we’re doomed.”

Sasuke stood so quickly that he barely registered moving, and glared down at Naruto. “So it’s my fault that this place defies all nature-laws? Maybe you should have worked a little harder with convincing me not to go through here, if you’re so _all-knowing_.”

Naruto stood too. His usual warm and soft blue eyes now resembled two chips of ice. His face was only inches from Sasuke’s and Sasuke felt a strange jolt of excitement shoot through him. He hadn’t felt this way in a long time… Come to think of it, they hadn’t fought like this since…

He wasn’t sure what happened, but suddenly something passed between them, as though Naruto felt Sasuke’s sudden hesitation, and the spark died away as quickly as it had ignited.

Naruto turned away.

“I’m sorry,” he said in a clipped tone. “I know it’s not your fault.”

“Whatever,” Sasuke bit out. “Just don’t act like a child. We can still get out of here, unless we give up.”

Naruto sighed. He bent over and picked up the map.

“I don’t get how you see this as a creature. It just looks like some weird symbol.”

“I don’t know what it is. I just know that there’s _something_ here, and that something is connected to the air.”

He didn’t tell Naruto that he also had a feeling that whatever it was, it felt old. Ancient. Like this forest. It was just a feeling, though, so he kept it to himself for now.

Naruto studied the map intently. He frowned. “The air, huh?” He looked around them at the polished, crooked trees that looked like they were carved from granite. Suddenly the ground shook and something akin to a sigh went through the forest, as though something huge was taking a deep breath. “Maybe we should keep moving,” Naruto said. “If we woke something up, we might not want to get found.”

“What’s the point?” Sasuke said. “We’ll just be walking in circles anyway.”

“What do _you_ suggest then?” Naruto said testily.

“I don’t know,” Sasuke snapped. “I have no fucking idea, okay?”

They both stared at each other in defiant anger for a moment, until the gravity of the situation once again caught up with them and they cooled down.

Sasuke tried to figure out what the best cause of action would be. They had to get out of the circle, somehow, but to do that they had to figure out what had caught them in it in the first place. It could be a genjutsu, but in that case it was too strong for him to break out of. He tried, but nothing changed.

“What if this whole forest is a genjutsu…”

Sasuke didn’t realize he’d said it out loud until Naruto answered, “Then whoever did it must be incredibly strong.”

“Old energy.”

“What?”

Sasuke shook his head. “You managed to make the wind blow. That would be a small breach of the genjutsu, but you couldn’t break it completely…” Things were falling into place now.

“Go into sage mode,” Sasuke said.

Naruto glared at him. “Don’t tell me what to do.”

“Just do it!!"

“Stop bossing me around!”

Sasuke bit back his frustration. “Fine. Can you… please… enter sage mode.” Naruto crossed his arms but Sasuke could see that he was pleased. 

“Okay, since you ask so nicely.”

In a flash of glowing light, he took on the shroud of his Kurama mode, at the same time going into sage mode. “Whoa…” he stared at the trees around them as though he hadn’t noticed them before. “That’s…”

He didn’t get to finish, because in that same moment a howl that shook the ground rolled through the forest, almost flattening the trees to the ground.

Sasuke and Naruto were both knocked over. When the violent wind calmed, they sat up gasping.

“What the fuck was that?!” Naruto said.

“Something that just realized where to find us.”

“Oh, great…”

They both got to their feet.

“We can’t escape as long as we’re caught in this genjutsu. You’ll have to release it,” Sasuke said.

“Me? But… But I can’t, you saw that…”

“Don’t be such a wimp,” Sasuke snapped. “Use all your energy and release your chakra!”

Something in Naruto’s eyes flashed hotly at the insult, but he knew that this was no time for complaints. Without another moment of hesitation, he did as Sasuke said.

The result was explosive. It felt like they had been catapulted out of a vacuum. Heat and fragrances and sounds attached them as though they’d been dropped straight into a battleground. Sasuke could swear he heard men screaming and dying all around him. The air was humid and cloying, like a layer of clay, but it felt different now than before. It was living, moving again. Soft puffs of air grazed his skin. There was something electric about it, like the air right before a thunderstorm.

In the flurry of confusing sensation, Sasuke thought it looked like the trees around them rotted away as he watched them, until they were standing in a black, twisted swamp. A thick fog surged in as though it had been lying in wait, and suddenly he couldn’t see his own hand in front of him.

Someone grabbed his arm – Naruto. He pulled him close, his warm hand like a vice around Sasuke’s wrist.

“There’s something here,” he whispered.

Sasuke tried to catch any sounds, but after the arrival of the fog, everything had gone eerily quiet again. The sounds of battle had ceased as quickly as they showed up. It had seemed almost like a breach in time: like they for a second had heard the sounds of a battle long past.

“It’s here!” Naruto cried out just as something slammed into them with such power that they were flung up into the air and sailed through it, landing hundreds of feet away from where they’d been standing.

Sasuke’s landing was dampened by something warm and soft. When he got to his knees he realized that it was Naruto. He shook him, praying that he wasn’t hurt.

Thankfully, he got to his feet with a grunt and followed Sasuke in a mad dash through the swamp-like forest. The stench around them assaulted their senses. It was like walking through hundreds of years of decay that never had managed to transform into healthy soil. The ground was so polluted that nothing could live in it, but nothing could truly die either.

“Where are we going?” Naruto shouted.

Sasuke didn’t waste his breath answering questions that he had no answer to.

He had no idea where they were going. He just knew that they needed to get out of range from that… whatever it was that was following them.

He didn’t hear its approach – it was as quiet as the air itself – but he felt it once it reached them. It was like the air compressed around them and knocked them to the ground. He heard Naruto swear and felt his chakra blaze.

“It’s no use!” Sasuke shouted. “It’s not physical!” He felt something press against his mouth, and suddenly he couldn’t breathe. He clutched his throat… It felt like something was lodged in it, though he didn’t know what.

He heard Naruto scream in anger. “Sasuke! No! Let him go!”

He was shouting to the air around them now, walking in circles. He couldn’t see their enemy, not even in Sage mode. He kneeled next to Sasuke, clutching him.

“W-what’s happening? What can I do?”

Sasuke was starting to feel woozy from lack of air. He clutched Naruto’s hand hard.

“Stop it!” Naruto shouted out into the quiet air around them. “Don’t take him, please! Take me instead!”

Sasuke barely had time to mentally scold Naruto for being stupid enough to say such a thing before the buzzing in his ears became too loud and his eyesight faded to black.

Curiously, he could still feel Naruto’s arms encircle him and hold him tightly to his chest. Then the blockage in his throat disappeared as suddenly as it came. His whole chest contracted painfully as his lungs started sucking down air again. He didn’t register that he was clutching Naruto and leaning heavily onto his chest until after a long moment, and at that point he was too stunned by the fact that Naruto was sort of tenderly running his fingers through his hair that he didn’t even try to move away at first.

He even let himself relax in Naruto’s caring embrace for a few seconds, forgetting for a moment about the danger they were in. He wasn’t allowed to forget about it for long, though, because soon they heard something barge through the forest: something big, and it was coming straight towards them.

Despite not having completely recovered from his close call with death, Sasuke shot to his feet immediately, and Naruto followed close behind. They weaved through the forest, but no matter how quickly they changed directions, or how rocky their path was, whatever was following them only seemed to come closer.

They heard a loud rumble from somewhere in front of them too: it seemed to come from underground. Sasuke didn’t have time to figure out what it was before he suddenly found himself on the edge of a steep cliff that plummeted right into a vast, grey ocean of mist. Next to him, Naruto barely avoided the unwanted dive too.

They turned to face their follower, but they could see nothing. Everything was quiet once more, except from the deep, even rumbling from below them. Sasuke realized what it was the same moment as something hit him in the middle of the chest with brutal force, and flung both him and Naruto out into the unknown.

A river.

What rumbled beneath them was a river. They plummeted down into a chilly darkness. The last thing he remembered was the icy clutch of the water all around him, and then… nothing.


	6. The Cave

Naruto managed to grab hold of Sasuke just before they plummeted into the wild, freezing river below. He felt Sasuke go limp as he was hit by something, but he clutched him tight, refusing to let go of him even though the water seemed determined to pry them apart. If he let go of Sasuke now, he might never find him again. He had to hold on.

He braced for impact, because the river was narrow and framed by walls of solid rock. But miraculously, he avoided hitting the rock walls, and eventually the river flowed more slowly and widened out. He fought to keep both his own head and Sasuke’s over water. He needed out of the water, but he couldn’t see a thing. Everything was dark around him. They had to be underground in some sort of cave and there was no knowing when, or if, they would resurface.

At some point, he had slipped out of kurama mode and now he really felt the chill.

The river grew calmer and at last it became shallow enough that he could touch the ground with his feet. He shuffled onto a sandy bank that lay above water, draggin Sasuke with him until they both were out of the water. If only he had some light, then he could see where he had ended up. But first he had to see to Sasuke.

He fumbled around with stiff, cold fingers until he located Sasuke’s chest. He put his ear to it, trying to hear it he was breathing. His chest didn’t seem to move. Fuck. Sasuke was in danger of asphyxiation for the second time in less than half an hour. Something seemed determined to steal the air from him. Naruto started doing CPR. He didn’t hesitate; didn’t linger at the fact that he was pressing his mouth to Sasuke’s. He was too desperate to feel him breathe again.

“Come on,” he growled under his breath as he did heart compressions. “You don’t get to leave me like this, you bastard.”

Tears were running down along his nose, but he could barely distinguish them from the water that still dripped from his hair and down his forehead and cheeks. He was so cold that he was shivering, but he paid it no mind.

“Shit,” he whispered as he placed his ear down to listen to Sasuke’s chest. “Shit, shit, shit… I can’t lose you…”

Not now… Not after everything they’d been through…

He pressed his mouth to Sasuke’s again, wet with tears and water, and tilted up his chin. As he blew in, he felt Sasuke’s body convulse and barely had time to move away before Sasuke started coughing up water. Naruto hurried to turn him over onto his side, so that the water could flow out freely.

“Sasuke?” His voice sounded small and fragile in the vast darkness. “Are you okay?”

He leant closer, his hand still on Sasuke’s shoulder, listening for his breathing. It was ragged and uneven, but it was there. Sasuke coughed up more water, coming to himself slowly but surely.

“Are you hurt?”

Sasuke groaned. “I think I hit my head…”

Naruto could have hugged Sasuke. Just hearing his voice made him more confident that he was okay. He shuffled through his backpack in search for a flashlight. 

Everything in the pack was soaked through, from spare clothes to sleeping bag. The flashlight was waterproof, though. He turned it on right in Sasuke’s face.

Sasuke shielded his eyes with his hand. “Point that away from me,” he growled.

Naruto was just happy that he was healthy enough to complain. He turned the light to Sasuke’s head, searching for an injury.

“You’re bleeding,” he said. “You might have a concussion.”

“I’m fine,” Sasuke grumbled. He carefully touched the tender spot on his scalp. “I’m more worried about freezing to death.”

Naruto swiped the beam of the flashlight around the cave. To his surprise, the cave was so big that the light couldn’t reach neither roof nor walls. The bank that they were sitting on was attached to more sand, though, and some rocks a bit further away. They climbed further up the bank and made themselves a safe hollow in the sand.

“There’s some driftwood here,” Naruto said. “I think we could make a fire.” He collected an armful of dried sticks and branches. They’d be perfect as firewood. Sasuke had barely enough strength to light the fire with a small fire jutsu. Naruto roamed further into the cave in the hopes of finding more kindling, and to keep warm.

When he returned with a bunch of spindly branches, Sasuke had strung their wet blankets and sleeping bags out on ninja wire, and had hung a kettle of water over the fire.

“How are you feeling?” Naruto asked.

“I’m fine,” Sasuke said. “I’ve had worse injuries.”

“Let me disinfect the wound, at least.”

He pulled out a first aid kit from a waterproof pouch. Sasuke kneeled near the fire and let Naruto tend to his wound. As they sat there, Naruto could feel how badly Sasuke was shivering. His skin was ice cold to the touch.

“You should get out of those clothes,” Naruto said once he was done tending to the wound. He was freezing too, and in the damp darkness of the cave there wasn’t much hope of the clothes drying quickly by keeping them on. They needed to get them off and closer to the fire.

Sasuke had a funny look on his face for a short moment, but it was smoothed over before Naruto could decipher it. Then he took off his vest and pulled his sweater over his head and Naruto was left staring at his abs. He immediately regretted his own idea. Sasuke stood and started undoing his pants, and Naruto felt like he was watching it happen in slow motion. He knew he shouldn’t stare but he just. Couldn’t. Look. Away.

He could practically feel Sasuke’s eyes on him, could picture the frown as clear as day, but he didn’t dare look up at his face.

“Maybe you should get out of your own clothes?” Sasuke said pointedly.

Naruto plastered a grin on his face. “Ah, yeah! I was just about to.” He hurriedly pulled his sweater over his head, but the wet clothes stuck to his body so that he had to practically roll them off. By the time he was done, Sasuke had taken a blanket from the makeshift clothesline and wrapped it around himself.

The blankets were wool, and though they were uncomfortably wet and cold, at least the isolated a bit. Naruto wrapped the other blanket around his naked body and sat down next to Sasuke, as close to the fire as he could get.

Sasuke was still shivering. Naruto shifted a little closer to him. The fire was burning brightly and the water in the kettle heated quickly.

They made instant ramen.

“Told you they’d be useful!” Naruto said, since Sasuke had been skeptical when he’d seen what kind of provisions he’d packed.

Sasuke just scoffed.

Naruto felt warmth come back to him slowly but surely, but Sasuke was still shivering. Even in the warm light from the fire, his lips looked bluish.

“You can have my blanket too,” Naruto said and made as to unwrap himself.

Sasuke stopped him. “No. Just keep it.”

“But-”

“You don’t have anything to wear if you give me your blanket. You’ll just get cold again.”

“I swear I’m warm enough. It’ll be fine!”

“No,” Sasuke said and turned away when Naruto tried to give him his blanket. “Put it back on, dammit.”

Naruto hesitated, but he wrapped the blanket around himself again. “Are you shy?” He teased.

It was nice to know that he wasn’t the only one a bit uncomfortable with their predicament.

Sasuke huffed. “I just don’t want to be the reason you die from your own stupidity.”

“Well, I don’t want you to die from _your_ stupidity either.” Naruto scooted closer, so that he was pressed right up against Sasuke’s side, and threw half of his blanket around Sasuke.

Sasuke startled and hissed, “What are you doing?!”

Naruto was determined not to let embarrassment keep them from keeping each other warm. “It’s better if we sit closer,” he muttered. “Sharing body warmth and all that…”

He chose not to mention the fact that skin-to-skin contact was the most ideal. He had a feeling they both were thinking about it, but neither wanted to bring it up. Sasuke didn’t move away so they remained like that, sitting close together. It got more awkward by the minute. Naruto had put his arm around Sasuke, and now he wasn’t sure about what to do with it. He needed to keep the blanket around him, but right now it felt like he was putting the moves on Sasuke.

“Um… Hold the corner of the blanket, will you?”

Sasuke took it without uttering a word and accidentally grabbed Naruto’s hand in the process. For a long, awkward moment, neither of them moved, but then Sasuke let go at the same time as Naruto pulled back, and the blanket flopped to the ground.

Sasuke picked it up again without a word, and Naruto had to bend himself into a position that was less than relaxing in order to stay close enough to Sasuke without touching him or pulling on the blanket.

“We should probably get some rest,” he mumbled.

“Yeah.” Sasuke’s tone was clipped.

Shit. Naruto worried that he’d pushed him too far. He was still shivering, though, and that alone was enough to give Naruto new resolve.

“I’ll lie next to you,” Naruto said. “Just wrap up in your blanket and I’ll put mine over us both.”

Sasuke didn’t protest at all, which made Naruto more confident that he was doing the right thing.

They had made a huge fire in the beginning, and the flames had warmed the sand close to it. They lay down as close as possible to the edge of the now much smaller fire and enjoyed the little heat they had.

“I’ll keep watch,” Naruto said. “You can sleep.”

Naruto wasn’t entirely sure how long Sasuke stayed awake. He couldn’t see his face since he was facing away from him, but they were lying so close that Naruto eventually could feel Sasuke relax a bit, and then he heard his breathing getting deeper.

Naruto threw more driftwood on the fire to keep it burning, and shifted closer to Sasuke, careful not to wake him. Sasuke slept soundly on. Naruto wondered how deeply he actually slept. He had never been able to get so close to him while he was sleeping before, much less move about like he was doing each time he fed the fire, all while Sasuke slept like he a baby.

Naruto leant on one elbow so that he could see Sasuke’s profile and very carefully poked his cheek. He didn’t even stir. Hm… This was too good to pass up. Naruto poked Sasuke’s ear next. It should be a really sensitive place, but Sasuke didn’t react. This was almost uncanny…

Naruto looked down at Sasuke’s shoulder where the ugly brand was barely visible underneath the folds of the blanket. He was about to touch it: just one, gentle touch, but he stopped himself. It was probably sensitive, and if Sasuke woke up… It wasn’t worth it. He needed the rest he could get.

He snuggled close to Sasuke, hugging him tight, and rested his face almost at the nape of his neck. He would enjoy it while he could. He had never gotten this close to Sasuke before… well, at least not intentionally.

He only wished that Sasuke would have wanted this too.

Naruto nodded off for a bit, and when he woke up the fire was nothing but embers and Sasuke was shivering in his sleep. Naruto hurried to build up the fire again, but it would take a little while before it was big enough to warm them. He hesitated for a long moment before he decided to hell with their pride, and unwrapped Sasuke from the still moist blanket. He got in next to him, trying to ignore the almost electric feeling that set his skin abuzz when it touched Sasuke’s, and tucked his own blanket around them both.

_Just try to pretend it’s someone else_ , he told himself. _Pretend it’s Sai._ That certainly made his body a little less enthusiastic. Only for a second, though. Then all his other senses overruled his mind. Naruto had always had an excellent sense of smell. Usually that was something he was very proud of, but right now it was nothing but an inconvenience. His nose was practically buried in Sasuke’s hair, and there was no way he could tell himself that that scent belonged to anyone else.

Suddenly all of it felt too overwhelming. He was cold and exhausted and trapped in some godforsaken cave, and now he was presented with, as if in some fever induced dream, one of his deepest wishes; to be able to touch Sasuke and hold him close and breathe in his subtle, unique scent.

But in the cruel ways of faith, he was not allowed to do anything else. Even though every nerve in his body, from head to toe, was alight, he had to keep himself very carefully in check so that he didn’t end up in a horribly awkward situation. In addition, he fought with a side of him that felt like it was taking advantage of Sasuke while he was asleep. _I have to do this_ , he told himself. _I can’t let him freeze to death._

Naruto was awfully cold too, but the warmth came back to him quickly once he huddled up with Sasuke, and it didn’t take long before Sasuke stopped shivering too.

Naruto put some more firewood on the now cheerfully burning campfire. Then he snuggled back in with Sasuke, his forehead resting against the back of Sasuke’s neck. He felt drowsy, but he couldn’t fall asleep now. He just had to stay like this for a little bit longer, until he was entirely sure Sasuke was warm enough, and then he’d wrap him back up in his blanket and retreat to his own. He was barely done with the thought before he fell asleep.

\-----

Sasuke woke up to a nightmare scenario. At first he just basked in the warmth and softness and general wellbeing in his body, but then his memories caught up with him and he realized where he was, and with whom.

That was when the nightmare started.

Naruto was pressed up close to his back, _naked,_ and Sasuke could _feel_ his… his…. Dammit, this wasn’t supposed to happen. This was exactly why Sasuke had been opposed to the whole thing. With two guys cuddling up to each other on a long mission, this was bound to happen.

Stupid Naruto.

Why did he always have to be so… so…

There were no words for this kind of stupidity.

What was Sasuke supposed to do now? He was just in the same predicament as Naruto. If he moved, he risked waking Naruto. How could that moron let himself fall asleep in the first place? He should have woken Sasuke up to take the next watch. Then _this_ would never have happened.

Sasuke sat up very carefully, inch by inch. The fire had died out, but their blankets were nearly dry. Sasuke looked around. He could actually see his surroundings. The lighting was vane and dull and there were patches of shadows all around, but there also came what had to be sunlight in from someplace high above them. The cave was enormous. High above them, the roof of it was cracked in places, letting in sunlight. Plants and fungus had found their way down through those cracks, and were growing along the cave walls, all the way down to the rocky surface below.

Sasuke was taken aback by the view. He hadn’t expected to find such a wild, beautiful jungle down here.

Then Naruto woke up with a moan and brought him back to the unfortunate issue at hand. Sasuke looked down at Naruto and Naruto looked up at him, his eyes adorably unfocused at first, but then he became more and more lucid until he was staring at Sasuke in wide-eyed dread.

“Fuck…” Naruto said and sat up, extracting himself from Sasuke. “I’m really sorry…”

He held one hand over the blanket to cover his erection.

“Why did you do that?” Sasuke grumbled. He couldn’t get up now, not when Naruto was awake. He had nothing to cover himself with if he stood. “You didn’t have to get that… close.”

“You were shivering,” Naruto said. “And I was cold too… I’m sorry-“

“We’re never speaking of this again,” Sasuke cut in brusquely. “Understood?”

Naruto looked regretful. “Yeah,” he muttered.

“And we’re never telling anybody else about it,” Sasuke added. “ _No one_.”

“Yeah, yeah. I hear you. It’s not like I’m gonna brag about this…”

“Just shut up,” Sasuke snapped. He grabbed the blanket that Naruto had placed over them. “I’m taking this. I’ll look away till you have covered yourself.” He bundled the blanket around himself and stood with his back to Naruto. He inspected their strung up clothes, and was thankful when he found them nearly dry. He didn’t relax until he had put them on. Only then did he feel safe from whatever Naruto had awakened in him.

Why did that idiot have to do things like that without even thinking of the consequences? Maybe it didn’t matter much to him if he woke up with a boner in the company of a friend. It was awkward for sure, but it was different when you did something stupid like that with a friend than it was with someone… someone who meant more than that. To Naruto, it apparently didn’t mean more than that, but to Sasuke it did. And that was what made it so unbearable.

They packed up in silence and then Naruto pulled the old map form Ginjiro’s walking stick out of one of his pockets. It was moist and wrinkled and smudged, but it was still readable.

“We might as well follow this,” he said. “Look,” he pointed to what looked like a river running through the woods and into…

Sasuke snatched the map from Naruto’s hand. “Is that…? It’s this cave. It’s on the map.”

They exchanged glances.

“What a coincidence…” Naruto said slowly.

Sasuke walked over to where a ray of sunlight hit the ground. He studied the map in the bright light. “It’s an extraordinary map,” he said. “I’m pretty sure this cave wasn’t on it yesterday…” He knelt on the ground and placed the map on top of a rock.

“It wasn’t very detailed in the beginning,” Naruto said. “Remember that I said it looked like a treasure map? The parts where we’ve been doesn’t, though. It’s as though it fills out as we move along the path.”

“Yeah… And there are clues in it that tell us what to do next, like in the forest, when that symbol clued me in on a wind-creature.”

Naruto kneeled next to Sasuke. 

“Then what’s the clue here?” Sasuke pointed to a symbol that was penned in next to the cave on the map. It was a bit indistinguishable; just a slightly curved line which looked like an abstract illustration of a snake or a slug. But since they had no idea what it actually depicted, and no further clues, any suggestions were just mere guesswork and lead nowhere.

They decided to explore the cave instead. Sasuke looked for an opening or passage of some sort along the ground, while Naruto hiked up to the cracks in the ceiling. Even if he did find a way out, Sasuke wasn’t entirely sure if he had enough strength to get up there, and he didn’t like the thought of having Naruto carry him.

Naruto came back down after no more than an hour. “Those cracks lead out into a dried riverbed on the bottom of a narrow ravine,” he said. “I couldn’t get a good overlook of the surroundings, but it didn’t look promising.”

“The map seems to be telling us to go deeper into the mountain. The path follows this sharp zigzag line that I’m guessing is a mountain range.”

“Are we really gonna follow this map? I mean… It makes sense to get out of this cave as soon as possible. Who knows what we’ll meet if we continue into the mountain.”

“But what if the way through the mountain is quick and simple and leads us to a road or a village? It seems more risky to chance the wilderness without a map, than with one.”

“But where does it even lead?”

“I guess we’ll find out.”

Naruto studied Sasuke’s face like he hoped to find the answer to life’s mysteries there. “Are we seriously doing this? Following this weird, old map?”

“We already are,” Sasuke pointed out. “We didn’t really have a choice.”

“… We had a choice of whether or not to go into that forest.”

Sasuke scoffed. “Are you seriously starting with that again? How could either of us know that something so freaky would happen when we went into that forest?”

“I’m just saying that I had a feeling that it was a bad idea!”

“Yeah, a _feeling_. If you trusted that feeling so much, how come you didn’t try harder to convince me?”

Naruto crossed his arms and huffed, but he had no further comment besides grumbling under his breath. Sasuke shook his head and held the map up to the waning light to see better.

“Hey…” Naruto looked at the back of the map, which Sasuke now was holding up for him. “Look at this.”

Sasuke turned the map around and looked at where Naruto was pointing.

“I don’t see anything…”

“Hold it up to the sun again.”

Sasuke did, and then he saw it too. It was faint, but in the bottom left corner was a yin-yang symbol as well as something written in kanji.

“Those who wish to see, must first close their eyes,” Naruto read.

He looked at Sasuke for input, but he couldn’t make anything out of the contradictory sentence either. The daylight was fading quickly and since they could get no further with the map, they decided to eat and rest for a bit.

“Hey,” Naruto said after a while, when they had eaten and were getting a bit drowsy. “That symbol is the same as on the map.” He was pointing at a place high up on the cave wall. Until recently it had been hidden in shadow, but the little light that reached in through the cracks in the roof had illuminated it with the last rays of the waning sun.

The symbol was huge, possibly about the size of a two-story house, and was a perfect copy down to the smallest curve of the snake/slug symbol on their map.

Sasuke stood.

“Where are you going?” Naruto said.

“We should inspect every part of the wall around that symbol. It’s a sign.”

They brought their bags since the symbol nearly was on the opposite side of the cave. When they got there the daylight was nearly gone, so they brought out their flashlights. They searched the ground and the wall in a wide area around the symbol, but it got more and more difficult as the cave was plunged into complete darkness. In the end they decided to give it a rest and get a good nights sleep instead. Sasuke needed to rest his aching head, though he hated to admit it.

They made a campfire, with matches this time since it was less urgent than yesterday. Sasuke didn’t tell Naruto, but he felt increasingly worse. The brand on his shoulder ached, and even the smallest use of chakra made him dizzy and sick.

While Naruto made them instant ramen again, Sasuke studied the map in the light from the campfire. He read the small inscription on the back over and over again.

‘Those who wish to see, must first close their eyes…’ It made no sense…

He slid his thumb over the yin-yang symbol, and thought about their meeting with the six path sage. It had really hit home that time, how tightly linked he and Naruto were. Their powers had only lasted for a short duration, after which the symbols on their palms vanished, but sometimes Sasuke imagined he felt the heat from it, like the soft pulse of an invisible link between him and Naruto.

He closed his eyes, remembering the desperate look on Naruto’s face as they tussled in the mud during their fight after their powers had died out and their chakra was depleted, trying to hit each other even when they had no strength left.

‘I never wanted to hurt you, Sasuke…’

Sasuke closed his eyes tight and forced himself to think of something else.

He opened his eyes and looked at the map through a blur before he managed to blink his eyes clear again. Suddenly it was like he saw the map for the first time again, and an idea hit him.

He grabbed Naruto’s hand out of impulse. To his surprise, Naruto blushed and stared at him. Sasuke let go of him like he’d been burned. What was up with that? Why couldn’t Naruto just… act normal? 

“Look,” Sasuke said brusquely, trying to normalize the situation. He pointed at the yin-yang symbol. “Those who wish to see, must first close their eyes.”

Naruto rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I got that. So what? Am I just gonna walk around in the darkness? How’s that gonna help us?”

Sasuke grabbed Naruto’s hand again, and was grateful that he didn’t act so funny this time.

“Yin and yang. Opposites, like fire and air.” He could feel Naruto’s hand close around his, and it gave him goosebumps. “Channel your chakra, and close your eyes.”

Naruto did as he was told without asking more questions.

Sasuke ignored the nausea and channeled just a little bit of chakra. He could feel Naruto’s warm, strong flow of chakra next to him, almost like a big, fluffy cat stroking its side against his leg. He felt something happen and opened his eyes. It was like the map unfolded in front of them. Out of nowhere grew a detailed drawing of a winding corridor making its way through the mountain.

“That’s…” Naruto muttered. “That’s wild. Wow.”

They heard a deep rumble come from somewhere in the cave, but it was impossible to tell from exactly where. It lasted only a short moment, wherein the both of them sat frozen, expecting a cave-in any minute. But then everything grew completely quiet again, and they relaxed.

Sasuke went back to examining the vividly detailed drawing that had sprung out of nowhere. Large parts of the map were still empty, though, and the path that had revealed itself to them only reached halfway to its destination before becoming nothing more but a squiggly line on blank canvas again. Now he could see clearly that an opening in the cave-wall had been penned in. It was absurd, almost like the map was about to go 3D.

They decided to rest before they figured out what to do next. They crawled into their sleeping bags and huddled close to the fire. Naruto had insisted on taking first watch since Sasuke was injured and Sasuke accepted it without any fuss. He was too tired to even bother with telling Naruto to give him a bit more space, and soon he was soundly asleep.

\-----

Naruto woke Sasuke up at dawn, or what passed as dawn down at the bottom of a cave. Sasuke was too exhausted to tell Naruto off for not waking him earlier. He kept watch for as long as he felt he could without wasting the little daylight they had, before he woke up Naruto.

Then they started searching the cave wall for openings. They soon found one narrow opening close to the ground, which was so well hidden in the shadows that they had walked straight past it several times before seeing it. They also found a slightly bigger opening a little higher up on the wall, almost directly below the symbol. 

Though it wasn’t more than perhaps thirty feet above ground, Sasuke had a sinking feeling that he wouldn’t be able to make the climb using chakra alone. So he advocated for the exploration of the smaller cave first.

That turned out to be unnecessary a short while later, when they had followed the narrow cave to a point where they were unable to continue because they couldn’t squeeze in any further. Once they were back in the main cave the daylight had started fading again, but Naruto was determined to continue and Sasuke, who felt well rested, had no objections. They ate some more of their rations, which at this point were starting to dwindle, and made ready for the climb. Naruto went first. He scaled the steep and slippery wall easily. Sasuke hesitated. He knew there was no point in trying, and yet he collected chakra at his feet as he had been able to do since he was thirteen, and started climbing. He felt the toll on his body before he even started the climb, and after three steps he had to draw back his chakra and let himself drop to the ground.

He kneeled, fighting the nausea.

Naruto didn’t realize that Sasuke wasn’t following him until he was at the cave mouth. “Sasuke?” He yelled. “Are you coming?”

Sasuke couldn’t see Naruto through the darkness. He knew that he had to tell him that he wouldn’t make it, but he couldn’t quite make the words pass his lips.

“Are you okay?” Naruto called out, sounding concerned now.

“I’m fine,” Sasuke lied, though he knew the weakness in his voice gave him away.

Sure enough, Naruto was next to him in a flash of movement.

“You’re not fine,” he said, taking a good look at Sasuke in the light of his flashlight.

Sasuke covered his eyes.

“Just give me a minute and I’ll be good to go,” he said, but it sounded weak even to his own ears.

Naruto grew silent and Sasuke could practically hear the cogwheels in his head turning as he tried to find a way around the obvious plan of action. He knew as well as Sasuke did that it would be awkward (as well as humiliating for Sasuke’s part) if Naruto were to carry Sasuke. But what other options did they have?

“I’ll carry you,” Naruto said at long last, his voice firm, as though he hoped it would make any objections void.

“Don’t be stupid,” Sasuke said calmly. “I’m too heavy. I’ll-“

“There’s no point in wasting energy and time on using a rope. I’ll carry you, it’s easier that way.”

“So it’s fine to waste your energy?” Sasuke scoffed. He searched through his backpack for rope. “If we get to it at once, it’ll be quicker than arguing.”

Naruto grabbed Sasuke’s shoulder. “Will you, for once in your life, listen to me? I can see that you’re tired. You barely have enough energy to walk. You have to preserve it since we don’t know how long this journey will be. I have lots of energy. It’ll barely cost me anything to carry you up there, and you know it.”

Sasuke brushed off Naruto’s hand. The moron had a point. Sasuke put his backpack back on and stood. Naruto, wisely, took that as the only confirmation he needed. He stood too and turned his back to Sasuke.

“Hop on,” he said and looked over his shoulder with a grin.

Sasuke frowned. And here he’d thought yesterday’s awkward morning wood was the lowest he could sink. He had been wrong. This was somehow… worse. It was one thing to put his arms around Naruto’s shoulders. It was awkwardly intimate and dependent, but he would have to do more than that. He would have to lock his legs around Naruto’s waist. Now, that was just completely humiliating. He considered going for the rope-plan instead, but he knew that it would be ten times more embarrassing to accept Naruto’s help after failing something that he normally would have no trouble doing.

After a long moment of hesitation where Naruto, in an unusual show of subtle consideration, didn’t usher him, Sasuke finally took a step closer to Naruto and put his arms loosely around his shoulders.

It felt… intimate.

He was glad Naruto couldn’t see how red his face was becoming. 

He felt the solid firmness of Naruto’s strong body under his palms. It was strange… He’d never thought of Naruto as fit before. He hadn’t thought much about his body, to be honest. Naruto always covered it in garish, baggy clothes, which directed attention away from how good-looking he actually was. Sasuke had a sudden light bulb moment, which was as shocking as it was inappropriate. He actually found Naruto handsome. It would have been nice if he could have had that revelation at some point where he wasn’t about to climb onto Naruto’s back.

Naruto must have felt how Sasuke suddenly froze, because he turned his head a bit and said, “Um, so… Just lift your leg…”

Sasuke had to press close in order to get the leverage to hoist himself up. Naruto bent his knees a bit and grabbed Sasuke’s offered leg underneath the knee. Sasuke though his stomach was going to fall out with the way it erupted in flutters. He’d never felt so ridiculous in his life. Note for later; the skin behind his knee was extremely sensitive.

He knew he just had to go through with this, and the sooner the better, so he jumped onto Naruto’s back. Naruto caught his other leg, and then Sasuke had to cling onto him for dear life while Naruto pretended to walk up the rock wall with ease.

Sasuke could feel and hear him struggle, though. He knew he would make it, either way, so he wasn’t worried, but he couldn’t help but feel like a burden. If it wasn’t for that damned brand… Why was it that people seemed to single him out for this type of thing?

Naruto reached the ledge of the cave panting, and sank to his knees so that Sasuke could get off.

“Thanks,” Sasuke muttered into the darkness.

He could practically hear the smile in Naruto’s reply, “It was nothing.”

Sasuke turned on his flashlight and waited for Naruto to do the same. This cave was much wider. Promising. He heard a click as Naruto turned on his flashlight, but no light came on. There were several more clicks and then the sound of Naruto shaking the flashlight, as though that would help.

Sasuke turned his own light on him, glaring although he knew Naruto couldn’t see it.

Naruto scratched the back of his head and flashed his most disarming smile. 

“Whoops… I should have changed the batteries before I left.”

“You’re impossible,” Sasuke muttered. He tried to remember when he last changed the batteries to his own flashlight… He couldn’t recall. As he turned the ray of light forward and proceeded onward into the cave with Naruto in tow, he hoped that it hadn’t been that long ago. 


	7. Into the Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't been home for the last few days so I haven't been able to update as often as I had planned! But the next chapter will be posted tomorrow and the last chapter will most probably be posted on the day after that. I hope you'll keep enjoying this crazy ride ^^

“Hey…” Naruto stumbled after Sasuke into the cave. “Slow down. I can’t see where to put my feet…”

The ground was getting more and more treacherous, cracked and filled with pieces of stones from a partial cave-in. Sasuke stopped where the cave narrowed so that Naruto could catch up to him and grab onto his backpack. Incidentally, he had stepped onto some rocks and earth as he carefully made his way further in, and suddenly Naruto’s hand, which had supposedly aimed for his back, landed smack dab on his ass.

Sasuke couldn’t help the way he startled and even let a small gasp of shocked surprise slip out.

“S-sorry!” Naruto sputtered. “I-I tried to-“

“I get what you were trying,” Sasuke snapped. He grabbed Naruto’s hand and led it to his backpack. He was grateful that Naruto couldn’t see the way he blushed. The ass-grab had set his blood buzzing. It confused and angered him. He didn’t want to react to Naruto’s touch this way, but he did, which made it even more annoying when Naruto accidentally did stupid things that probably meant nothing to him.

They walked on in silence, Naruto now capable of keeping up with Sasuke. They kept a steady pace through the tunnel as it evened out and became less treacherous. At one point they half-ran through a longer section.

Any second now Sasuke feared that they would reach a section they couldn’t pass. But that didn’t happen. They continued until they needed a food break. They continued again for a while, further and further into the mountain. Or so it seemed. Hopefully this tunnel would lead them to the surface soon.

After a while, the tunnel started widening. The cave walls were so smooth that they looked polished, and the tunnel was almost perfectly circular.

“Is this natural?” Naruto said, voicing Sasuke’s exact thoughts.

“Looks made,” Sasuke muttered. He swiped the light from the flashlight around, studying the nearly shimmering walls. “But it must be natural… Who could have made this?”

They camped in the middle of the tunnel that night, Naruto taking first watch and Sasuke the second. It was chilly, but they didn’t find enough fuel for a fire so they just had to huddle up in their sleeping bags. They turned off the flashlight as they slept, to preserve the battery, and while Naruto was sleeping, Sasuke could swear his hearing had gotten ten times more acute. Either that, or Naruto was even louder than usual. He snored and muttered in his sleep, and at one point he seemed to have a discussion with Sakura.

“No! No, Sakura. Put it back! It’s mine!”

Sasuke sighed. Had it always been like this? How had enemies not attacked them at night before when Naruto basically was the sleeping equivalent of a warning signal?  
Sasuke gave Naruto five hours before he woke him up, and then they carried on.

They hadn’t walked for very long before Sasuke’s flashlight died too. For a moment they just stood there in indecision.

“We have to continue on,” Naruto said.

“It could be dangerous without any light.”

“But the tunnel looks safe enough, right? If someone made it, they must have started somewhere, so if we follow it we’ll probably end up on the surface again in no time.”

Sasuke had to admire Naruto’s ability to think positively. He didn’t protest, though. They had to get out of there somehow, and this was a good a bet as any. So they continued on, albeit much slower.

The floor got more uneven as they went. They stayed close to the wall, so as to not lose their way and accidentally walk in the wrong direction. As long as they never let go of the wall, they couldn’t really go wrong. Unless the tunnel branched off, of course, but in that case they were screwed anyway.

They walked until they were too tired to continue. They found a dry nook on the side of the tunnel, and huddled up close together to ward of the chill. They shared some of their rations and then Naruto settled down for first watch while Sasuke attempted to get some sleep.

He woke up, disoriented in the darkness and with a sudden memory loss as to where they were and how they had ended up there. It took him a moment to realize that he was leaning heavily on Naruto’s shoulder. He sat up quickly once he realized what he was doing.

“S’okay,” Naruto said. “It’s nice if you stay closer… Keeps us warm.”

“How long have I been asleep?”

“I have no idea… Can’t see the clock, remember?”

They decided that Sasuke would take over the watch, since he felt rested anyway. 

After what to Sasuke felt like ages, but could be anything from a few minutes to hours, he became aware of a strange sound. The sound was a constant, heavy dragging noise, and it was slowly coming closer. Sasuke grabbed Naruto’s upper arm hard, a signal of immediate danger. It woke Naruto up quickly and ensured that he was quiet. He didn’t say a word, but listened. The sound was coming closer and closer. It sounded like some sort of gigantic creature, but Sasuke couldn’t guess what. It was not a snake; he would have recognized that sound. This creature was moving much slower, and it sounded slippery rather than dry like a snake.

He was still holding onto Naruto’s arm. It was crucial that they didn’t lose hold of each other in the darkness, or else they might hurt each other if it came to battle.

They swiftly and quietly packed up their sleeping bags and made sure they had all their equipment, before they crouched as close to the wall as they could come. Sasuke hoped that the creature would pass right by them without giving them any notice, but he didn’t dare bet on it so he also prepared for a small fire jutsu.

As the creature reached them – they had no problem locating it since its stench was worse than the rotting swamp – it stopped. The silence was excruciating. Sasuke barely dared draw a breath. He felt Naruto’s biceps tense under his palm. Then he gave his arm a quick squeeze, a sign that they needed to jump into action. He formed a fireball that lit up the small, cramped space like a sun.

Immediately he felt so dizzy that he couldn’t stand, but Naruto grabbed hold of him and hoisted him towards a small crack between the cave wall and the lumpy, slimy body of the creature. The creature was screeching, a horrible ear-piercing sound, and its head, if it could be called that, was rearing. Sasuke only got a short glimpse of it before the fireball fizzled out and they were hurtling down the tunnel, but that small glimpse etched itself into his mind. The creature had looked mostly like a giant, hairy slug. It had no eyes, but to weight up for it, it had a frightening array of knife sharp teeth in its unnaturally round, wide mouth.

They stumbled down the tunnel without knowing where they were going. Naruto was dragging Sasuke along, but he eventually stopped when he realized that the creature wasn’t following them. Sasuke took a moment to catch his breath and only then did he notice that he and Naruto were holding hands. Before he had time to react to it, Naruto led his hand to his back so that he could grab onto his backpack.

“Ready to go?” he asked.

“Yeah…”

Slowly they continued further into the belly of the mountain.

\-----

They had walked for a long while when Naruto abruptly stopped. Sasuke had heard it too. The sound of their feet hitting small rocks had suddenly taken on an echoing sound. Either they were in a larger cave, or there was a cliff not far from them. Naruto felt his way forward slowly, throwing pebbles for each step. Suddenly, he stopped.

“There’s an edge here,” he said. He threw another rock. They never heard it land. He threw another one, and this time they heard it hit the ground only a couple of meters away from them.

“It’s just a crack in the floor,” Sasuke said. “We might be able to jump.”

“Are we willing to bet our lives on that?”

“Do you have any better suggestions?”

“You could make a new fireball.”

“I can’t do it right away…” Sasuke hated to admit it, but his body still felt like jelly after that exertion of energy. He wanted nothing more than to lie down, but he wasn’t very eager to let Naruto know that. “We’ll have to wait for a while.”

For a moment they stood in silent indecision.

“Let’s rest for a bit,” Naruto said at last.

It wasn’t ideal. Since they didn’t know their surroundings, they were vulnerable to an attack. But they really didn’t have much of a choice. Once again they huddled up close together, and Sasuke fell asleep even before they could agree on who was keeping watch.

\-----

Naruto sat completely still. Sasuke had fallen asleep so quickly that Naruto had been talking to him for a while before he noticed it. He touched his arm and said his name, but Sasuke didn’t answer. Instead his head slowly slid down onto Naruto’s shoulder. Naruto put his arm around his shoulder and nudged him gently into a more comfortable position.

Naruto was willing to pay the price of the predicament they found themselves in for the chance to be so close to Sasuke. It was a unique possibility to be able to touch him like this without being pushed away. He rested his cheek on the top of Sasuke’s head and listened for any signs that they were not alone. But the cave was so quiet that he started wondering if he had gone deaf. He threw a pebble just to check. The sound seemed to reverberate through the cave like a gong.

After that he stayed as quiet as he possibly could. He even tried to breathe more quietly. He wasn’t sure why, but he got a really bad feeling, like something horrible was close. He had lost some trust in his own senses after what had happened in the forest, but he trusted his instincts even more. He gently shook Sasuke, but got no reaction.

"Sasuke?" he muttered. There was no response. He realized that he could see the soft outline of Sasuke’s face due to some sort of reddish glow. He looked around to try and find the source of the light. It had appeared so slowly that he hadn’t noticed it, but it was coming from the crack in the floor and it looked like it was only increasing strength. It almost looked like the glow from the embers of a gigantic fire.

He shook Sasuke again, a bit harder. “Sasuke.” Sasuke just grumbled something. His voice was thick from sleep. Naruto lifted his hand to touch Sasuke’s face, and felt Sasuke’s hair brush his palm. "Sasuke," he said again, this time so softly that it was barely a whisper. He brushed his fingers over Sasuke's hairline. He had no idea about how long Sasuke had slept, but he had a strong feeling that getting away from there was more important than sleeping, so he said Sasuke’s name again, this time close to his ear while he continued to comb his fingers gently through Sasuke's hair.

“You need to wake up. I think we have to get going.” The reddish glow was getting brighter.

Sasuke’s eyelashes fluttered as he slowly opened his eyes. For a long moment he just stared at Naruto, a confused expression on his face. “Naruto…?”

“Yeah?”

It was like a film of sleep slowly disappeared from his eyes, and along with it so did his strangely vulnerable expression. He sat up abruptly and turned away from Naruto.

“I was just…” Naruto said, faltering, realizing he’d ran his fingers through Sasuke’s hair as he woke up. “I, uh… You wouldn’t wake up, so…”

Sasuke had noticed the red glow too. Without looking at Naruto even once, he moved closer to the edge and looked down. Naruto followed him. They could see how far it was to the other side now, but the drop below them was dizzying. He couldn’t discern any source for the light. It just appeared deep, deep below them, and slowly crept closer.

“Are we… Is that lava?” Naruto said. He wasn’t sure he could believe it. It wasn’t really warm, either, not even as it continued to brighten.

“We should get away from here in any case,” Sasuke said.

Now they could see clearly over to the other side of the gap. It was a risky jump, but they could make it. At least Naruto could… He looked sideways at Sasuke. He looked determined but tired.

“Maybe we should…” Naruto started saying.

“We have no other choice,” Sasuke interrupted him. “We have to jump.” He grabbed his backpack and Naruto hurried to collect his own things.

The red glow was getting brighter faster, and as Naruto moved closer, he could feel the heat from whatever was making its way up. Sasuke backed off from the edge.

“It’s getting too hot already.” Just as he said it, a wall of fire shot up from the crack in the floor. It reached almost twenty feet above them and it singed the tips of Naruto’s hair as he stumbled backwards. In the suddenly bright light and heat, he couldn’t find Sasuke.

He called out for him, again and again, his voice growing hoarse, but he could barely hear himself over the powerful rumble of the immense fire. He shielded his eyes from the heat and crept closer to the wall.

He jumped a foot in the air when a hand landed firmly on his upper arm, but it was only Sasuke who crept close to him, holding his head down. He had a burn mark on his headband, but otherwise he looked unharmed.

The flames dimmed down ever so slightly, enough for it to be possible to breathe without feeling like his lungs were scorched. They stood and examined their surroundings. The cave was larger than Naruto had expected, especially upwards. The walls sloped slightly inwards, creating something like a domed stone roof above them.

“Look!” Naruto pointed up towards the cave roof. In the glow from the fire, a symbol was now visible.

“Another one,” Sasuke said. He had gotten a determined look on his face. “We’re supposed to find some way to get past these flames.”

“Um… and how do you suggest we do that?”

“Give me the map.”

Naruto patted his pockets and pulled the now badly faring map out. He opened it carefully from the crumbled mess that he’d accidentally reduced it to. By some miracle, it was still intact. They placed it on the ground.

“At least we’re not in danger of freezing to death,” Naruto said and wiped sweat from his brow.

Sasuke was completely focused on the map and didn’t comment. “Here,” he said, pointing. “This symbol is the same as the one on the cave wall. But I can’t make out what it’s supposed to be…”

Naruto moved to his side and leaned close to the map, studying it intently. “Hm… It sorta looks like…” he cocked his head. “Maybe a…”

Sasuke sighed. “If you don’t have any idea, just say it.”

“I’m trying to figure it out, okay?”

“It looks like some sort of sun, or…”

“Exactly! Or… fireworks?”

As they talked, the wall of fire suddenly started diminishing. Slowly but surely, it became smaller until it didn’t reach the edge of the crack in the floor anymore.  
Sasuke and Naruto exchanged quick glances. This was their chance to leap, but… Could it be a trap? Sasuke got to his feet and slowly walked closer to the edge of the ravine. He stopped several times, waiting, in case the flames would surge up again. At last he stood at the edge, staring down into the abyss.

“It’s probably gonna fry us the second we jump,” Naruto, who had followed Sasuke, said.

“Probably.” Sasuke looked around until he found a rock about the size of his hand. He threw it across the abyss and immediately the flames surged up and devoured it.

Naruto took a few steps back. “Shit.”

They returned back to the map and nibbled on their rations while they thought of a solution. What rations they had left wouldn’t last them many days. The biggest problem was lack of water. They had yet to come across any water since the river.

“Shame neither of us have water release,” he said. “We could just have snuffed out that fire immediately.”

“That’s unlikely to work,” Sasuke said. “The flames are too strong. Earth release, on the other hand…”

“We could have made a bridge.”

Unfortunately, they couldn’t. Or… Could they?

“Hey…” Naruto looked up towards the roof, which had disappeared in shadow after the fire had receded. The flames grew and diminished with even intervals, and right now they were almost gone. “What if we could blow up a section of the roof? Maybe it could cover the ravine?”

“Did you not see how deep it was? Anyway, we’d be more likely to bury ourselves in a cave-in.”

They sat in silence for a while after that. Naruto thought hard about a potential solution but he couldn’t think of anything. He was completely blank.

“You know…” Sasuke said after a while. “The last time you had to release your chakra... Maybe this time…”

Naruto caught on with not so little dread. “It’s worth a try. But can you handle… I mean… Uh… Will it be okay if you…?”

“I’ll manage,” Sasuke said a little coldly.

“Okay, okay… I’m just saying that I wouldn’t, you know…” Naruto cleared his throat, which was getting suspiciously thick. “I wouldn’t want to lose you. You know, in case I’ll need you later.” He tried for a watery smile to break the tension.

Sasuke looked at him this time. It was the first time, Naruto realized, since that whole disaster with the blanket sharing. Well, with the exception of that short moment where he’d had his guard down just as he woke up, but Naruto had written that off as Sasuke being halfway inside a dream.

Sasuke just looked at Naruto for a moment before lowering his eyes, but in that short moment Naruto saw that Sasuke understood what he was trying to say… and appreciated it.

They packed up their things again and then Naruto watched nervously as Sasuke walked closer to the ravine and threw a rock. The flames burst up again, and they both backed away. Once the flames had died down a bit, Sasuke walked almost to the edge and reached out his hand. Naruto held back the urge to ask him what the fuck he thought he was doing. He was getting way to close. He watched tensely as Sasuke put his hand right inside of the flames, and then pulled it back again, completely unharmed.

Naruto was standing back a bit because the heat was too much for him, and he had to wait until Sasuke came over to him before he could yell at him. Which he did.

“What the hell did you do?!”

Sasuke acted like Naruto hadn’t even spoken. Now that Naruto took a closer look, he could see that Sasuke looked unusually pale, and that he was shaking slightly.  
Naruto grabbed him by the shoulders, just in case he was about to keel over.

“We’ve only got one shot,” Sasuke said. “I can keep the flames from burning us for as long as I can release my chakra. If we jump together, we can make it.”

“Are you sure you’ll… Maybe we should just go back?”

Sasuke actually managed to roll his eyes, though it seemed to take him some effort. “We’re not gonna last long enough to find another way out of here, not with as little provisions as we have. We’re obviously on the right track, it’s just a question of time-“

“Sasuke! We don’t know anything about what’s waiting for us! Seriously, we could be walking into a trap.” Naruto had started shaking Sasuke without noticing it. Now Sasuke grabbed his elbows and pushed his hands away.

“What other choice do we have?” Sasuke bit out.

Naruto didn’t have to think about that for long. Sasuke was right. It was their only chance. “Okay,” he said, “but you’ll rest a bit first.”

Sasuke didn’t protest against that. He sat down leaning back against the cave wall, and accepted the last bit of beef jerky that Naruto offered him. Once he had regained some color to his skin he got up again and the two of them walked over to where the flames were now starting to diminish. Sasuke grabbed Naruto’s hand in a firm, warm hold. It happened so unexpectedly that for a moment Naruto just blushed, wondering if Sasuke was…? But then he realized that he’d probably have to hold him if he was going to be able to protect him. It was just that. Just business.

He took a deep breath and waited for Sasuke’s signal.

They backed up a little. Sasuke hesitated for a long moment before finally saying, “On the count of three.”

Naruto felt his stomach drop. He clenched Sasuke’s hand hard. On three they started running. Naruto felt the hairs on his arms and the back of his neck stand on end, but he wasn’t sure if it was because of the wall of fire that threatened to singe his very skin, or the feeling of Sasuke channeling chakra right into him. They jumped at the same exact time. Naruto was sure that he was going to burn to a crisp. He could swear he felt the flames rake across his body in search for purchase. The jump lasted seemingly forever, but suddenly they were through and landing heavily on the hard ground on the other side. They rolled around, still holding each other’s hands, and Naruto hit his elbow hard against the ground.

It took him a moment to collect his mind after the world had stopped spinning. He felt really warm. His skin tingled a little painfully, on the verge of stinging. His nostrils were filled with the stench of singed hair and clothes. At the same time he felt uncomfortably sweaty. His clothes stuck to his skin. He groaned softly as he tried to move. Sasuke groaned too from beneath him. Naruto realized the something soft that he’d been resting his head on was in fact Sasuke’s chest.

He sat up a little too quickly and was hit by a dizzy spell. Sasuke rolled over onto his side and threw up. Even though Naruto went cross-eyed with exhaustion for a moment, he still had to check on Sasuke first. He reached out and grabbed his shoulder, his nearly scorching hot shoulder, and kneeled over him.

“Are you okay?” he muttered. His lips were kinda stiff so that he could barely move them.

Sasuke’s whole body convulsed again, but he only threw up bile.

Naruto couldn’t think of anything else to do than to make Sasuke drink some water. Water and some food, but water first. He handed Sasuke his nearly empty bottle of water, but Sasuke pushed it away.

“You have to take it,” Naruto insisted. “Here.” He forced the bottle into Sasuke’s hand and nudged it towards his lips. Reluctantly, Sasuke drank.

The wall of fire was fading quickly now, leaving them in pressing darkness once again.

Naruto reached out and grabbed Sasuke’s shoulders, easing him into a sitting position. He took off Sasuke’s backpack and found his water bottle as well. There was a little more water in it than there had been in Naruto’s, and Naruto made Sasuke drink that too. Then he forced him to eat small pieces of crackers until he seemed to be feeling a little better.

Naruto had drawn Sasuke tight against his chest and held him protectively while he waited for him to get a bit better.

“Naruto…” Sasuke said after a while. “You’re really hot.”

Naruto grinned weakly. “Thanks.”

“Tch… I meant your skin…” Sasuke touched Naruto’s hand. “I think something’s wrong.”

“Nah, I’m fine,” Naruto said, though he was still feeling dizzy.

“Do we have any water left?” Sasuke said.

“Um…”

“Moron,” Sasuke hissed. “You should have saved some for yourself.”

“Sorry… I…”

“Lie down.” Sasuke pushed Naruto gently down on the floor, which was mercifully cold.

Naruto drifted in and out of consciousness for a while after that. He remembered seeing the fire-wall blaze up again, and a little later feeling something ice-cold against his forehead and freezing water being forced part his lips.

He felt a bit better after that. He was dimly aware that he must be lying in Sasuke’s lap, and that Sasuke was running his fingers through his hair at intervals. It felt so nice that he drifted off again for a while.

He woke up with a jolt from a dream that he couldn’t remember, but it left him feeling hollow.

“Are you awake?” Sasuke half-whispered.

“Yeah…”

“I think you got slightly burned,” Sasuke said. “I couldn’t protect you as well as I could protect myself.”

“I’m feeling better now.” Naruto tried to sit up, but felt a rush of nausea and he let Sasuke pull him back into his lap.

“You heal fast,” Sasuke said. “But not that fast. Rest for a while longer.”

Naruto didn’t have enough strength to protest, and soon he was drifting off to sleep again, Sasuke’s fingers gently massaging his scalp.

\-----

After a few hours, Naruto insisted that he was good to go again, so they continued. Sasuke had refilled their water bottles in a creek that cut right across the tunnel floor a little further down from them. The cave they had entered into was a bit bigger than the tunnel they had followed so far. They could hear their footsteps echoing occasionally if they happened to hit a small pebble. The further they walked, the more creeks they crossed. Sometimes ones that were so wide that they had to wade over, other times ones that were so small they could just step over it. They could hear water running and dripping all around them, from the cave roof and from small nooks and crannies that seemingly led nowhere.

It was easy to know where to go because the tunnel led seemingly straight forward, and the further they walked, the more it seemed like they were seeing actual daylight. Naruto couldn’t pinpoint where the light came from, but it seemed to be somewhere far above. It was so far away, though, that sometimes Naruto wondered if he was just imagining it.

After having rested perhaps three times and finishing off the last of their rations, they could finally confirm that they were in fact seeing daylight. The towering columns of rock around them started to become more visible through a faded, bluish light. Now they could see the cave they had wandered through more clearly, and it was stunningly beautiful. Stalactites hung from the roof of the cave, water dripping slowly off their tips and landing in pools among the stalagmites on the cave floor. They could see all this through the occasional openings in the cave wall that encompassed their path. It seemed almost like someone had made the path for that exact purpose of being some sort of road for travelers, because it never branched off or became treacherous, but led them safely through the gigantic cave around them.

As the daylight became stronger (Naruto could now ascertain that it came in through the occasional shafts in the cave-roof far above them, as though they too had been made for the purpose of letting daylight light up the way for travelers), their pathway became steeper, until they were practically climbing in a zigzagging line up towards what seemed to be the exit.

Naruto climbed faster as they neared the bright, almost white light that slanted in through an opening right above their heads. He had to squeeze his eyes shut as he climbed over the edge and walked on his hands and knees the last few meters until he collapsed in a patch of moss. He heard Sasuke crawl up next to him. Naruto had to wait until his eyes got used to the bright light before he could open them. He had expected to see the sun when he finally opened them, but instead he looked out at a milky white landscape that stretched out below them. Here and there he saw some black, blurry shapes that hunched in silence far out there. It took him a good minute to finally realize what he was seeing, at which time his heart dropped down into his feet.

For some reason, he had thought that getting out of the cave would save them. He had not thought about what they could meet out there, but this was by far the last thing he would have wanted to see. Because all around them, as far as they could see, stretched a misty, rotten swamp that nothing would be able to survive in for long.


	8. The Flowers

That night they slept close together, neither of them keeping watch. It was the first sign that they were starting to give up. The following days just grew increasingly dire. They had to continue on; they had no other choice. Occasionally they came across some hardy water plants that they could eat, or they managed to catch the occasional bird or reptile. Their food-supplies had dwindled to nothing, and they had no other water than what they were carrying, because the swamp-water was too muddy to be drinkable. Though, they probably would try if they were forced to.

They spoke little. Instead they sought more physical contact. Sasuke knew that if he hadn’t had Naruto with him, he would have lost hope a long time ago. They kept each other going, even when they were so tired that the thought of getting up and keep walking seemed like an impossible task. They had to continue on for each other’s sake.

Sasuke could feel his strength slowly seep out of him through the seal on his neck, little by little each day. He hadn’t told Naruto about it when he first noticed it. They had been wrong about the type of seal. This seal was designed to slowly kill him.

They were both slowly dying anyway. Naruto didn’t need one more thing to worry about when he couldn’t do anything about it anyway. So Sasuke disguised his fatigue as best he could. As the days wore on as slowly as molasses, he basically walked on autopilot, doing his best to keep up with Naruto. He knew he wouldn’t last long.

One day he just couldn’t walk any longer. His legs gave out under him and he ended up face first on a tuft of prickly grass. No matter what, he couldn’t get up again.  
It took a moment before Naruto realized that Sasuke wasn’t right behind him any longer. When he did, he came running.

“Sasuke?!” He skidded to a halt on his knees. His hands were surprisingly gentle as he turned Sasuke over. “Sas… Are you…?”

Sasuke was about to answer, though it took a while to assemble the strength to do even such a small thing. But before he could, Naruto had embraced him tightly. 

“Sasuke…” He murmured close to his ear. “You have to stop scaring me like this.”

Sasuke was surprised when he realized that Naruto was crying. “I’m not dead yet,” he murmured.

Naruto just held him tighter. “We’ll get out of here soon,” he said. “I know it. Just hang on for a little longer.”

“I… I can’t move,” Sasuke admitted

Naruto sat up and stared at him. “… Not at all?”

Sasuke moved his hand slightly. “I guess I just need some rest.” 

That was a lie. He wanted nothing more than to sleep, but he was afraid that if he closed his eyes, he wouldn’t ever open them again.

“And some food,” he added.

“I’ll see if I can find something. I’ll just move you somewhere a bit dryer first,” Naruto said.

Sasuke didn’t even think about refusing to be carried. He knew he had no other choice, and besides… being carried by Naruto wasn’t so bad. The awkwardness he had felt before was gone. Now he was just really grateful that he had Naruto’s steady presence with him. He knew – as he supposed he’d always known, deep down – that Naruto always would be there for him, no matter what. He wouldn’t leave him, wouldn’t falter, until…

Sasuke refrained to think of the possibility of a until.

Naruto carried Sasuke bridal style over to a remotely dry patch of grass near the root of a large, moss-covered tree. He set Sasuke down gently, but Sasuke didn’t let go of his neck immediately. He hesitated, and Naruto waited instead of pulling away. Perhaps he too…

“Naruto…” Sasuke said softly. He wasn’t aware that he wanted to before he was doing it, but in the soft moment between one breath and the next, he had placed a kiss on Naruto’s lips. He wasn’t sure what made him do it. Probably a mixture of exhaustion and fear of… of never getting the chance to do it if he were to…

Naruto froze completely. He lowered his head just enough for Sasuke not to see his eyes, and it worried him. 

“I-“ Sasuke started saying, but he was cut off as Naruto’s mouth suddenly sealed over his.

It came on so sudden and so fiercely that Sasuke was floored. He opened his mouth in a silent gasp and could swear he felt Naruto’s tongue touch his. 

It was… It was so much more than he could have imagined. So much more overwhelming. So much better. Naruto was kissing him like his life depended on it, and Sasuke accepted it all, asking himself why he hadn’t done this a long time ago. Why did he have to wait until now, when they might not even get to be together for much longer? Naruto broke the kiss only because he needed to breathe.

Sasuke felt his lips move against his own, as though Naruto was trying to say something but couldn’t find his voice. Sasuke had shut his eyes and didn’t feel like opening them again. Opening them would only mean confirming that they were still stuck in that cursed swamp, headed straight to nowhere. He nudged Naruto closer and was grateful when he kissed him again, bringing them once more away from their dire predicament. It couldn’t last, though. Naruto pulled away at long last, looking apologetic.

“I have to… we need food…”

Sasuke nodded. “Go. I’ll try to get a fire started.”

“No!” Naruto grabbed one of Sasuke’s hands.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “I’m not gonna use chakra.”

“Oh. Right. Okay.” Naruto hesitated for another moment, looking at Sasuke with a strange, imploring look before he finally walked away.

Sasuke tried to start a fire, though he knew it was hopeless. They had tried every night without any success this far. But they hadn’t given up yet, even though they’d had to eat raw meat the few times that they’d managed to catch anything. This time Naruto brought back a small bird after only half an hour, which was a new record.

Sasuke felt some strength come back after eating, so they walked a little further. Naruto refused to let go of him so they walked side by side, Naruto keeping a light hand on Sasuke’s arm the entire time.

He carried Sasuke again as the sun went down somewhere behind the fog, and the day turned into night. It was dangerous to walk around at night on such treacherous ground, so they had to find somewhere to rest quickly. Sasuke was only half awake as Naruto staggered onwards, and was only dimly aware of his surroundings when Naruto lowered him onto something that was surprisingly soft. He rolled over, seeking Naruto’s heat before he finally fell asleep.

\-----

Sasuke did open his eyes again, and as he did he wondered if he really had died. The sky was light blue, dotted with fluffy, white clouds, and the sweet scent of flowers and warm grass was permeating the air. He took a deep, calm breath, and when he noticed how relaxed he felt, he became certain that he had died. None of the pain and exhaustion was present anymore. His body didn’t ache. It was as though he’d slept for a month.

“You’re awake,” a voice said softly right next to him. “Finally.”

Sasuke shot up and winced. Okay, so he wasn’t completely healed after all. He felt a bit dizzy and stumbled, falling to his knees. A steadying hand was at his shoulder immediately.

“Sorry,” Naruto said, because the voice belonged to Naruto, of course. “I thought you’d noticed me.”

“I was…” Sasuke took a good look at his surroundings for the first time. As far as he could see there was fresh, green grass moving in the gentle breeze, and small trees with softly rustling leaves. There was no sign of the marsh anywhere. Right next to them a small brook with clear water ran tinkling past. 

“Where’s the… Where are we?” Sasuke said. 

Without thinking about it, he’d placed his hand against the nape of his neck, where he now could feel a dull ache. So he wasn’t dead after all. No, definitely not. But something strange had happened.

Naruto was grinning. “I’ve been waiting for you to wake up for days now. You won’t believe what’s happened!”

“… For days?”

“Yeah, you were out cold. I thought you were dying.” Naruto’s smile wavered. “Why didn’t you tell me how bad off you were?”

“There was no need to worry you,” Sasuke murmured. He sat down as the dizziness got worse. He had been lying in the shadow of a huge oak. Now he leant back against the gnarly trunk. 

“Tell me how we got here,” he said in an attempt to change the subject.

“I’m not even sure myself,” Naruto admitted. “You know, we both fell asleep immediately that night when you… well, when you were still lucid. When I woke up again it was dawn, and not the gray, dull kind that we saw every morning at those marshes. I could actually see the sunrise that morning. Then I noticed that, you know… there was a different scent in the air, and then the fog cleared a little more and I saw that we were lying on a fresh meadow. I carried you a bit farther until I came here. I thought it was a good place to recuperate, with clear water close by. There’s enough edible plants and berries around here to go around, though I haven’t been feeling that hungry.”

He stopped talking and shrugged. “I, um… I tried to do something about your seal, but nothing seemed to work. Then, yesterday morning, it was just gone…”

“Gone…?” 

Sasuke tried to get a glimpse of where the seal had been, but he couldn’t see it. He rubbed the sore skin. “I still feel…” He trailed off.

“You’re feeling better, right?” Naruto said. “Try using your chakra.”

Sasuke drew in his chakra and felt how it filled his body. It was intoxicating after such a long time of feeling dried out and powerless.

Naruto felt it too, because he grinned. “I told you we’d manage it.”

Sasuke hadn’t been aware how tense and worried he’d been until now, when all his worries just seemed to let go of him all at once. He smiled too. 

Then he remembered in a flash something that he for a moment thought he’d dreamed, but that he remembered with such perfect clarity that it had to be real. Naruto’s mouth on his… His hands in his hair… Desperate kisses...The memory almost floored Sasuke. The expression on his face made Naruto sober up too.

“What…?” Naruto said.

Sasuke turned away. “Nothing,” he hurried to say. 

He chanced a quick look at Naruto again, and knew that Naruto had caught on even without a word uttered from Sasuke. He looked away too.

They said no more about it. Sasuke tried to forget it, but he couldn’t. Once he’d remembered it again, it stayed etched into his mind. The feeling of Naruto’s lips against his… How could he ever forget that? They way he’d kissed him… So desperately, as though he was afraid he’d never get to do it again… Several times that day he had to collect himself to focus on the task at hand. He kept slipping Naruto glances when he thought he wasn’t looking. 

Why did Naruto suddenly seem… different? What the hell was so attractive about him, anyway? It was just Naruto, with the stupid, sunny grin and the weird whisker-marks and the perpetually unruly hair. So just… Stop looking. 

He drew away his gaze for the hundredth time that day. They collected fruit and berries and rested while they ate. They didn’t know where to go next. The map was suspiciously quiet. It had penned in the grove they were in to such a degree that it almost filled up one fourth of the map. Other than that, it had no new information for them.

They should be looking for a way home. They’d been away for far too long already. 

Tsunade must be wondering where they’d gone off too. She would be expecting a report that never arrived. Yet, they didn’t really feel any rush. They had to restore their energy, right? They could afford to set off some extra time in this place. No one knew what waited for them outside of it. The most logical plan of action was to stock up and rest well to prepare for the journey home.

If they ever would find their way back home.

They spent the day collecting berries and trying to find other things to eat, and around midday they sat down by the oak tree to eat. Naruto was right, Sasuke thought. He did feel less hungry in this place. They sat in peaceful silence after eating.

Sasuke couldn’t remember the last time he felt this calm and relaxed. There was nowhere he’d rather be than right there, right then. No one else he wanted to be with, but Naruto. He wondered if Naruto felt the same way.

Naruto was unusually quiet, but when Sasuke snuck him a side-glance, he thought he looked calm, not thoughtful. Just relaxed, like Sasuke. It was a strange thing, to see a trained ninja so at ease away from home. As Sasuke watched Naruto, he saw him suddenly make a grimace and clutch his stomach.

“What is it?” Sasuke didn’t even try to hide the worry in his voice.

“Nothing,” Naruto said, though something was obviously up. “Just a stomach ache.”

Sasuke looked at their pile of berries. “They could be poisonous…”

“No,” Naruto said. “I’ve been eating them since we got here.” He groaned and hunched forward. “It’s more like… a tickle, or… I dunno… Doesn’t feel like a normal stomach ache.”

“It could be a slow-working poison.”

“No, I swear, I’m fine. Just feeling funny, that’s all.”

Sasuke really hoped he was right. After a while Naruto straightened up again. The stomachache had passed, and Sasuke relaxed. 

They rested against the trunk of the oak tree, shoulder to shoulder. It felt natural now. Sasuke couldn’t imagine not being this close to Naruto. It felt right.

After a while, Naruto slid down a bit and rested his head on Sasuke’s shoulder. Sasuke rested his temple against the top of Naruto’s head, and soon they were both asleep without a single worry about potential treats.

Sasuke woke up again a few hours later when the sun had set and it was starting to become chilly. He carefully slid away from Naruto in order to not wake him, got their sleeping bags and wrapped them both up tight. After a small moment of hesitation, he put his arm around Naruto and fell asleep again with Naruto’s head resting against his chest.

Naruto slept till morning. He must have been exhausted from watching over an unconscious Sasuke day and night. He didn’t say a word about waking up so close to Sasuke. He acted completely like normal, as though this was just how close they were supposed to be. Maybe it was so. Maybe they’d always meant to be… like this.

Maybe that was what had always been missing for the both of them.

Sasuke wanted to reach out and touch Naruto… touch his face, his lips… He wanted it so badly that it physically hurt. Had he been feeling like this all the time…? Was this part of the ache that he had been living with for so long? How could he have told this pain from all the other pain, back then… Back before, when he knew nothing but pain. Only recently had he learned to feel something else but pain and anger.

It was a little too much.

The feelings he had for Naruto were so strong that they were frightening, but at the same time they were so familiar and safe that he ached whenever he wasn’t close to him. He watched Naruto as he got up and stretched, and suddenly an inevitable acceptance flooded him. 

He loved Naruto. 

That was just how it was. 

And if he hadn’t read the signs very, very wrongly, then Naruto loved him too.

He followed Naruto down to the brook. “Hey… Naruto?”

Naruto turned. He looked like he’d been off in his own thoughts. He blinked owlishly at Sasuke. “Hm?”

Sasuke held his gaze, forcing himself not to look away, even when he knew that the staring was getting a bit more intent than what was normal for friends. He wished that he could say what he wanted to with his eyes alone. Then he wouldn’t have to fumble for words. How could he explain what he was feeling in mere words, anyway?

Naruto didn’t break the gaze and didn’t look uncomfortable. He looked back in a way that made Sasuke wonder if he understood…

He took a small step closer. 

“I…”

Naruto, perhaps unconsciously, mirrored Sasuke’s motion. To Sasuke, he looked expectant. It made him braver.

He took another step closer. Now their faces were only inches apart. Naruto didn’t back away. He came closer, as though drawn to Sasuke, and Sasuke allowed it to happen. 

Allowed his body to do what it wanted: gravitate towards Naruto’s, infallibly.

When they met, it felt like he became whole. Like he melted into Naruto and became part of him. His mouth melded with his perfectly, as though it had been waiting for that moment since they were born.

Sasuke embraced Naruto, one hand on the nape of his neck, fingers brushing through his warm hair. He closed his eyes tightly. His hand shook slightly as he moved it to Naruto’s jaw. 

It was too much. Too much, and yet, not enough.

\-----

“I think there’s something special about this place…” Naruto said. 

He was lying on his back next to Sasuke.

“I’m not sure of what,” Naruto continued. “I just feel so calm here. Like nothing bad can happen to me.”

“Mm.” 

Sasuke understood exactly what he was talking about. He felt the same way too. 

Everything else seemed secondary to this. This was all that mattered. The two of them together there in the grass, in the soft, flower-scented breeze, with not dangers hanging over them. They could stay there. Everyone else would think they had died. 

They would never be found because no one else would be able to follow their path. 

Sasuke reached out and nudged Naruto’s hand with the tips of his fingers. Naruto moved his hand closer and laced his fingers with Sasuke’s. 

It was stupid, but it felt so nice to hold Naruto’s hand. Sasuke had never seen the point of handholding and kissing before. He hadn’t been able to imagine how good such a small gesture could feel.

He glanced at Naruto from the corner of his eye. Naruto’s eyes were closed and his face was turned up towards the sun like he was soaking in all the warmth that he could. His hair and skin seemed to glow. 

Sasuke couldn’t take his eyes away from him.

He stared for so long that when Naruto at last opened his eyes, he caught Sasuke’s gaze and smiled. Sasuke tried to smile too, but he had a feeling he looked ridiculous because he halfway wanted to cry and that was just silly… Where did all these feelings come from? He turned away from Naruto and pretended to be rubbing his face while in truth he was drying his eyes.

Naruto squeezed his hand, letting him know that he understood.

\-----

They slept, mostly. It was as though they never could get enough sleep. The nights were so balmy that they barely needed to cover themselves with anything. They slept close together, never really letting go of each other for very long, but they rarely spoke. There wasn’t much to say that they couldn’t already say with kisses and touches.

After what seemed like only a few days, but which in reality must have been at least a week because Sasuke could swear he’d seen the sunset a hundred times already, Naruto started staying awake more often. Sasuke noticed because he often wasn’t there when he woke up, which in the beginning had him panicking until he found him. It amused Naruto to no end, but Sasuke didn’t find it funny at all.

“I think there’s something here that… I don’t know… It does something with us,” Naruto said one day when Sasuke joined him by the stream, where he’d been trying to catch some fish.

“What do you mean?” Sasuke said, though he was only half paying attention. He still felt a bit drowsy. He cupped his hands and splashed some water in his face.

“Remember what you said about the fountain of youth?”

That had Sasuke’s attention soon enough. “Still on about that?”

“But listen, it isn’t that far-fetched. I mean; a mysterious map, a dangerous path, riddles, and then this… this paradise-place. And there is a stream here.”

Sasuke looked down at the clear, fresh water in his hands. “So… Because there’s a stream here, this has to be the fountain of youth? Then I guess we’ll soon turn into toddlers again, as much as we’ve been drinking from it.”

Naruto blew him a raspberry.

“Oh no,” Sasuke said, chuckling. “It’s already starting.”

“Ha, ha,” Naruto said dryly and shoved Sasuke.

He didn’t talk more about the fountain of youth, but his words had gotten Sasuke thinking. As with every other place they had encountered after they started following the map, there was something strange with this place too. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was something… He wondered if it was just another trap, but he really didn’t care enough to worry much about it.

That night when they went to sleep, their soft, careful kisses turned heated and deep, and before Sasuke knew it, Naruto had rolled on top of him. He clutched the front of Naruto’s sweater, bunching up the fabric.

When Naruto’s hands slipped up under the hem of his own sweater, skimming over his hipbones, he gasped. One part of him was reeling because of it all (it was too much, too intense) but a much stronger part of him wanted more.

In the end they just fumbled because they were so ridiculously inexperienced and in their eagerness they became clumsy. Naruto’s thigh slid in between Sasuke’s legs, and Sasuke saw stars. He refused to let Naruto move away from that position, and afterwards, in the wake of it, he felt mortified at the utter ridiculousness of coming in his pants like this.

Naruto stayed over him as he cooled down, not once looking away from his face, and Sasuke wanted to hit him almost as much as he wanted to kiss him.

“Get off,” he grumbled at last. 

He needed to wash off before he got into a worse mess.

The corners of Naruto’s lips turned upwards ever so slightly, and Sasuke just knew that he was about to say something in the direction of ‘I was about to’, so he shoved him away.

“Not a word,” he growled as he stalked away.

Naruto’s chuckles followed him all the way down to the stream.

\-----

It got more difficult to keep their hands off each other after that. They didn’t have much else to do, anyway… And they really had a lot of catching up to do. Neither of them had had much time for relationships. No time, in Sasuke’s case. He was surprised to find that Naruto seemed as inexperienced as him. He had been certain that at least something must have happened between him and Sakura (but maybe that was just his jealousy talking), or that he at least would have kissed someone with his tendency to run after girls. But maybe it just had been about Sakura. Or, maybe it hadn’t been about her at all.

Sasuke liked the way Naruto grabbed his hips and dragged him closer while they kissed. He liked the way Naruto’s hands felt strong and warm and secure against his skin. It scared him a bit, feeling like that. He wasn’t supposed to give in to Naruto, but he wanted to. And he did.

It turned Naruto on, and that again turned Sasuke on, until they were both a panting, writhing mess, hands desperately searching, tugging, caressing. Mouths tasting and devouring. 

Sasuke wondered how he’d been able to live for so long without experiencing this.

\-----

“It’s the flowers.”

“What about the flowers?”

Sasuke tucked his head under Naruto’s chin. He felt pleasantly drowsy after their long make-out session.

Naruto picked one flower, a big, pink one, and sniffed at it. 

“They smell really strongly. Here.” 

He shoved the flower practically into Sasuke’s nose. Sasuke grabbed his hand and pushed it away. 

“Do you smell it?” Naruto said.

“Yeah. It’s really sweet. Syrupy. Don’t poke it into my face.”

“That’s what she said,” Naruto said with a snort, unable to keep a straight face at his own joke.

“Oh, you’re so fucking funny.” Sasuke shoved Naruto down into the grass and sat astride him. He took the flower and pushed it up under Naruto’s nose. “How do you like it?”

Naruto gagged. “Agh, stop! Okay, I get it, sorry!” 

He remained lying spread-eagled after Sasuke sat back on his thighs. 

“I think it’s the flowers that makes us feel so good,” Naruto said dreamily, staring up at the sky.

Sasuke sniffed the flower carefully. It really had strong, sweetly stench. He threw it as far away from them as he could.

“Maybe we’re in the middle of a meadow of drugs,” he said.

Naruto was right. The aftereffects of smelling the flower were… potent. He felt like he could melt into a puddle of content. 

“We should get away from here,” he said, but he was only halfway meaning it. He didn’t protest when Naruto pulled him down into a kiss.

\-----

Eventually, a stronger wind came down upon them and their minds cleared enough to make them see that they needed to get going, preferably away from the pink flowers. 

They followed the stream upwards in the hopes of reaching higher ground with a better overview, but the flowers only seemed to multiply until they found themselves in a pink field that stretched in all directions as far as they could see.

“If this is what Ginjiro was after…” Naruto said. “I mean, he could get filthy rich on these flowers.”

“Maybe he already has?”

Naruto shuddered at the thought.

They had tried to stake out a path that morning by finding out where they could be on their ordinary map. They had looked for something, anything, that could give them a clue as to where they were, but as far as they could see, nothing stood out in the landscape. Not a single mountain or tree or rock.

“It shouldn’t be possible,” Sasuke had said. “There isn’t room for so much uncharted area on this map.” 

He had sent his hawk out to do recon before they left, but it still hadn’t returned.

Naruto trailed after Sasuke. He liked to have him in front of him. It meant he knew where he had him. Also, the view wasn’t bad. Sasuke looked over his shoulder a few times with a look that said he knew what Naruto was doing. Naruto just grinned innocently. 

He wasn’t just ogling Sasuke’s ass.

There was something about watching Sasuke, knowing that he was his now, that made a tender, aching part of him go soft and warm. Sometimes he felt a lump in his chest when he thought about all those years… those horrible, long years where he’d been in denial, in confusion, in despair… and then it all came down to this one, horrible, wonderful feeling.

He couldn’t believe he was lucky enough to actually have that feeling reciprocated.  
He tried to pull himself together when Sasuke turned again, throwing him a look over his shoulder, as though he too was unable to take his eyes off. But he knew that he looked stupidly happy, on the verge of crying. 

Sasuke just got that unusual, beautifully soft look on his face before he looked forward again.

Naruto wanted to wrestle Sasuke down on the ground right there and just… But that was probably just the flowers talking. He could swear it was them that made him so horny, but again… that could just be him.

They followed the stream to the top of the hill. In the distance they could finally see what looked like a steep, rocky hillside. They walked until the sun set, always uphill. The air got clearer and the flowers got fewer, until they were breathing in cool, balmy mountain air interfused with it the strong scent of heather. 

“It’s a nice view,” Naruto said when he turned around to look at where they came from. In the distance the air got hazy, like it was clouded by vapor. As far as he could see, there was just green and pink, and some trees. He was pretty sure that the tiny black speck far below them was their oak tree. It was the biggest tree around.

“Let’s camp by that boulder there,” Sasuke said.

Naruto felt pleasantly dozy as he rested against the boulder, munching on some leftover fish from breakfast. After he was done eating, he rested against Sasuke’s shoulder and nuzzled his neck.

“Do you think they healed you?” he said, running a finger over the slight indentation on Sasuke’s skin. “The flowers?”

“I’m not sure…”

“If they did, then… Then this isn’t just a gold mine, it’s a sensation.”

“No one else can come here,” Sasuke said. “You get that, right?”

“Um…”

“Naruto… There’s a reason why it’s so difficult to get here. Imagine what’ll happen if someone, anyone, get their hands on this place. It’d be full-blown war again in no time.”

“But if Konoha-“

Sasuke cut him off with a sharp, cruel laugh. “Don’t even start with that. Do you still think Konoha is the heroes in all this? That they’ll ‘do what’s right’?”

“I’m just saying that… I mean; we found it. So Konoha has the right to it-“

“You’re starting it already. This is how it’s gonna be. Everyone’s gonna fight about who’s got the right to it.”

“But if these plants can heal people, then we can’t just shut up about it!”

“I don’t think it’s the plants.”

“How can you be so sure about that?”

Sasuke was quiet for a moment. “I’m not sure, I just… There’s something here. Something old.”

Naruto thought about what Kurama had told him just a few nights ago. That he felt something, the same way he had felt something in that forest that they stumbled into at the very beginning. Something old; ancient. Only this time that something was peaceful.

“I think this place only lets some people in,” Sasuke said. “I don’t think Ginjiro has been here, but he was probably trying to find a way in.”

“So… We’re just not gonna tell anyone about this place?”

“I don’t think it matters what we say. It’ll be difficult, maybe impossible to find this place again either way. It protects itself.”

“But the map…”

“Well… I guess it’ll be as safe in the hands of Konoha as anywhere else,” Sasuke said grudgingly.

Naruto started dozing after that. He clutched his stomach, which was acting up again. It felt like something was clenching deep inside of him. It wasn’t directly painful, but very uncomfortable. He tried not to think too much about it, and soon he was asleep.

\-----

As if by magic, a trail appeared in front of them as they made their way forever upwards among boulders and patches of grass. They walked around one large rock, and there it was, a well-trodden pathway in the wispy, short grass.

They checked the map again, but they still had no idea where they were. They might as well follow the path, since it too continued along the stream, so they did. They kept climbing upwards until finally they reached a plateau. They had stopped encountering any trees a long time ago, and this high up there wasn’t even any heather. Just the wispy mountain grass and some really small yellow and red flowers. In front of them, a solid wall of rock reached straight upwards towards the sky. At the bottom of the wall there was a still, clear pool of water.

“This is the source of the stream,” Sasuke said. “There’s your fountain of youth.”

The place was so beautiful that it took the breath from Naruto, if he hadn’t already been winded from the climb. Below them there was nothing but white, cloudy mist. That’s how high up they were.

“What do we do now?” Naruto said at last.

“I hoped we’d be able to get an overview, but…” 

If anything, they could see even less than they had before.

“Maybe the mist will let up soon?” Naruto said.

“Let’s stay here for a while in case it does.”

Naruto inspected the plateau in the hopes of finding some path that lead further, but he found nothing. It looked like they’d either have to climb the cliff side, or go back. The problem was that they had no idea of what direction they should go in to get back home. They were utterly and completely lost.

Come evening, Sasuke’s summon finally returned.

“He got lost in the mist and has been flying in circles the whole time,” Sasuke said. “It seems as though this place is messing with his sense of direction.”

So that didn’t help them at all.

That night Naruto couldn’t sleep. Now that they finally weren’t under the spell of the flowers anymore, his worries came back with full force. For the first time he actually entertained the possibility that they might be stuck here forever.


	9. The Last Hurdle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this chapter is so delayed. I should never have promised a consistent update schedule because I always end up jinxing myself ^^, This chapter is twice the length of a regular chapter (almost 10 k) though, so I hope that makes up for it ^^
> 
> Warning: this chapter contains explicit sexual content!

The next morning, Sasuke let Naruto sleep in. But once Naruto woke up, he had good news for him.

“The map changed again.”

Naruto sat up and rubbed the residues of sleep from his eyes.

He took the map and looked at it.

A clear path that seemed to lead straight through the mountain had appeared.

“It seems we have to go out in the same manner as we came in,” Sasuke said.

“But there are no cave-openings here. I checked yesterday.”

Sasuke looked at him funnily. “There’s one right over there,” he said, pointing.

Naruto got up and true enough, hidden in some shadows, was a very narrow opening in the mountainside.

“I swear, that opening wasn’t there yesterday.”

“Maybe you just overlooked it because it’s in shadow-“

“No! I would have seen it if it was there. I’m sure that it wasn’t.”

“… Either way,” Sasuke said after a long pause. “It’s there now, so we might as well investigate it.”

Naruto hesitated. He wasn’t entirely comfortable with entering a cave that had appeared overnight. It might just as well close behind them if they went inside.

“Hey…” Sasuke touched his shoulder. “I don’t think it’s very tempting to go back into a dark cave, but this map hasn’t let us down so far.”

Naruto realized he’d been clutching the map in his hands and smoothed it out. He realized that the area with the stream and the flowers were sort of encircled by something. He’d thought that it was just a way to highlight the area, but now that he took a closer look it sort of looked like…

Naruto walked over to the edge of the plateau, gazing at the horizon in the distance. “What if… You said your hawk lost its sense of direction?”

Sasuke looked at him curiously.

“And this place…” Naruto hesitated. “This place… What if we’re still inside the mountain?”

Sasuke came closer to him, standing by his side. He stared forward, as though he was searching for something that could prove that Naruto was right. Far off in the distance, there was the slightest darker blue sheen, just at the horizon that barely peeked up through the mist.

“In that case, this must be some sort of huge crater,” Sasuke said.

Naruto nodded. He’d been thinking something along the same lines. It could be possible. In that case, the only way out would be through the mountain.

“Let’s chance the cave,” he said. “It worked out before.”

They could just go back if it didn’t lead anywhere. Hopefully.

They gathered provisions for the rest of that day and rested well before slipping into the chilly darkness of the narrow cave early the next morning.

Sasuke could activate his sharingan this time, so he led the way while Naruto clutched his backpack.

He remembered that time which now seemed a hundred years ago, when they had struggled through the cave in complete darkness and Naruto accidentally touched Sasuke’s ass. For a moment he let himself be amazed about how much could change in such a short amount of time, because it really wasn’t  _ that _ long ago.

He slapped Sasuke’s ass gently, just to prove that this hadn’t all been a dream and that they, in reality, still were stuck in that same cave as before, just as disoriented and tired and unaware of their mutual feelings.

“Not now,” Sasuke said almost absentmindedly.

Naruto smiled to himself.

As they continued into the darkness, Naruto could swear that they were walking downhill, but he still felt winded as though he was climbing a steep hill.

They seemed to walk forever, but as they decided to rest for the evening, Naruto thought he felt a soft breeze.

After having slept for a few hours they continued. It didn’t take long before they both noticed that the air seemed clearer. They sped up along the narrow corridor, as fast as they could on the uneven floor. They had to climb over some boulders and once they had to use chakra to walk up the wall to where the tunnel continued high above them. Another time they had to jump over a huge crack in the floor, but eventually they spotted sunlight.

They had to scoot on their stomachs the last part of the way. It was a tight fit, but they both managed to squeeze through.

Once they were outside in the sunlight again, Naruto felt relieved as though he hadn’t seen the sun for weeks. He’d feared the worst: that they’d get stuck in the tunnel for days, maybe weeks. But barely more than a few days could have passed since they had entered the tunnel.

Sasuke was the first to stand and take a proper look at their surroundings. Naruto followed his example, placing one hand on the small of Sasuke’s back just because he could. They were looking down on a tree-clad valley where a river ran through at the bottom. The hills on both sides were steep and the river sprung out from a tall, smooth cliff side, so they’d have to follow the river downstream.

They continued walking in silence. Sasuke took the lead and kept up a high tempo.

In the evening they found a nice place to camp by the river, and the next morning they checked their ordinary map. After a lot of arguing they realized that they had to be on the border of Land of Earth.

“How is that even possible?” Naruto said, again and again. “How’s that possible?”

The area with the swamp and the meadows and the flowers had seemed huge, but it didn’t fit anywhere on the map, and certainly not in the area that they must have crossed to get to where they now were. 

Sasuke just shook his head, looking baffled.

Though they had a map, the area they were in now was unknown to them. They walked for three days, constantly getting lost in uncharted territory, until they finally reached a small village. There they got their position confirmed and checked into an inn so that they could get some proper rest before their four day trek back to Konoha.

They’d been so tired lately that they barely shared a kiss before going to sleep, but they slept close, facing each other. Naruto didn’t fall asleep immediately that night. He watched Sasuke’s face and tried to quench a nameless fear that trashed in his belly. The reason he kept touching Sasuke was to make sure that… that this wasn’t all a dream. But no matter how often he did it, and how often his touch was accepted, he still couldn’t shake the fear that the next time… maybe next time Sasuke wouldn’t want it anymore.

He reached out and touched Sasuke’s cheek, and Sasuke didn’t wake up.

Naruto scooted a bit closer. He kept his hand on Sasuke’s cheek, gently caressing with his thumb. Sasuke’s eyelashes fluttered. He opened his eyes and looked straight at Naruto. Naruto smiled sheepishly.

“Sorry for waking you up…”

Sasuke blinked once before closing his eyes again. Then he placed his hand on top of Naruto’s, caressing his knuckles with his thumb, before moving closer and putting his hand on Naruto’s cheek instead, leaning in for a soft kiss.

Naruto couldn’t help the small, muffled moan that left him.

“Is this real?” he whispered.

Sasuke kissed his lips once more. “Feels real to me,” he said.

“I keep being afraid that I’ll wake up one day and find that this is a dream, or a hallucination caused by those flowers,” Naruto said.

He slid his fingers over the back of the hand that Sasuke had placed on his cheek before he clutched it in his own.

“I’m not gonna leave you…” Sasuke said, his voice so painfully soft and vulnerable.

He trailed off at the end, but Naruto had the feeling that he’d been about to say ‘again’.

Naruto tried to put into words something that he had no idea what was.

He eventually gave up.

“I feel… different,” Sasuke said after a long moment of silence.

“How so?” Naruto urged when Sasuke got quiet.

“… I’m not sure. It just… It feels like I can breathe again. It’s like I haven’t been able to breathe properly for many years, like I’ve always been fighting to take even the smallest inhale. But all this time I wasn’t aware that it could be different. Now it is, and…” He squeezed Naruto’s hand. “Now I’m… just…”

Naruto noticed the way Sasuke’s voice got gruffer, and the way he swallowed thickly. He opened his arms and pulled Sasuke in against his chest.

Sasuke didn’t make a sound, but he burrowed his face in Naruto’s t-shirt as though he was looking for someplace to hide.

“You know…” Sasuke said, his voice slightly muffled. “It sounds weird, but these last few weeks have been the best time of my life since… Since almost before I can remember.”

Naruto was fighting his own tears now. He nuzzled the top of Sasuke’s head and closed his eyes.

“My memories from before are blurry,” Sasuke continued, his voice low. “I can’t remember their faces anymore. I can only remember his face. And… I confuse him with… It’s like he’s two separate people. I can’t help… I love him, but I hate him too, for what he did. He might have done it for a different reason than I first thought, but he still  _ did it _ .”

Sasuke made a small, desperate sound, somewhere between a sob and a growl.

Naruto just held him tighter.

“How can you forgive them?” Sasuke growled. “How can you walk among them and not want to…”

He sat up suddenly, leaning over Naruto.

“You have more reason to hate that place than I do! I don’t understand how you can stand it!”

Naruto was frozen. He didn’t know what to say, he didn’t even know the answer to Sasuke’s question. For a long moment they just stared at each other in the washed out moonlight.

“I…. I think…” Naruto started saying. “I think that, when I become Hokage, I will have proven that I’m stronger than them. That’s why. That is my revenge, if you can call it that. Besides, there’s lots of innocent people in Konoha: children who know nothing of my past, and the people who accepted me… Those are the ones that I stay for. They’re the reason why I fought to get this far.”

Sasuke lowered his head.

“I wish I could forgive that easily too,” he murmured.

He snuggled close to Naruto again. They lay in silence for a long while before they finally fell asleep.

\-----

When they finally returned to Konoha, the first thing they did was to give Tsunade a brief report. In an unusual display of affection, she hugged Naruto tightly and patted Sasuke’s shoulder a little awkwardly. She didn’t even ask for a full mission report, but told them to get some rest and come back tomorrow.

They saw Sakura next. She started crying the moment she laid eyes on them.

She threw herself around both of their necks, not caring that they almost butted heads as she did so.

“I thought you were dead!” she blubbered.

When she pulled back she looked closely at both of them.

“You look different,” she said. “What happened to you? You have to tell me everything, and it better be good, because I’ve been worried sick!”

Telling her the whole story took them the rest of that day. She took them back to her new apartment where she made them more food than they could eat. They had been away for three months, it turned out, and in that time Sakura had finally gotten her own place.

“We started worrying when you didn’t send any new messages after a week,” she said.

Naruto felt drowsy and Sasuke was almost nodding off against his shoulder.

“I left with a small team to look for you when we hadn’t heard from you for two weeks,” Sakura continued, “But we lost your trail early on.”

“I can’t believe we were gone for three months,” Naruto said.

Sasuke was resting heavily on his shoulder now.

“You guys must be exhausted,” Sakura said. She too had noticed that Sasuke had fallen asleep. “I’m sorry for keeping you up so long!”

“It’s okay,” Naruto said. “We owed you an explanation.”

“Well… it could have waited. You can sleep here, if you want? I have only one spare futon, though…”

Naruto looked at Sasuke, who was sleeping heavily. “I think that’s a good idea.”

Sakura went to get the futon and rolled it out on the living room floor.

She sent Naruto a lingering, puzzled gaze. At first Naruto didn’t understand why she looked so funny all of a sudden, but then he noticed that she was looking at his hand… his hand that was holding Sasuke’s.

Oops.

“Are you…?” Sakura stared at Naruto. She left the question suspended in nothing.

Naruto didn’t know what else to say but the truth. “Yeah. I think so.”

Sakura’s expression changed. It softened, and suddenly she was smiling. “Good,” she said.

Naruto blushed. “W-what do you mean?”

Sakura laughed briefly, brushing her hair behind her ear. “Just that you two fit together. Somehow.” She shrugged.

“So you… You expected it?”

“Not exactly. It just makes sense, in a weird way.”

Naruto didn’t know what else to say. Sakura stood and kissed his forehead before she told him good night and went to her bedroom.

Naruto was overcome by a warm, bubbly feeling. He nuzzled Sasuke’s hair and let him sleep for a while longer before he shook him awake so that they could move over to the futon.

Sasuke really was tired. He was asleep again the moment he put his head on the pillow, and when Naruto laid down next to him, he shifted as close as possible to him, the way they had taken to doing during their long journey.

Naruto enveloped him in his arms and fell asleep without a single worry on his mind.

\-----

In the end they told Tsunade everything, though Sasuke only grudgingly agreed to it. Naruto just didn’t feel right keeping everything from her. She listened attentively as Naruto retold the whole, incredible story while Sasuke stood silently by, arms tightly crossed over his chest.

The first thing Tsunade asked was to see the map. It had turned back to its original state, not relaying much info anymore. She studied it for a long moment before calling Shizune over and giving it to her, telling her to get it examined.

“I suppose we’ll have to investigate Ginjiro a little more closely if what Mei said is true,” Tsunade said once Shizune had left.

“What she said would explain his wealth,” Naruto said.

“You couldn’t find any evidence?”

Naruto shook his head. “Nothing.”

“Shame,” Tsunade muttered. “We’ve had our eyes on him for a while, but we’ve been unable to get anything on him as of yet.”

“Mei would know,” Sasuke said.

Both Naruto and Tsunade looked at him.

“If we find her,” Sasuke continued, “we’ll have all the evidence we need.”

\-----

Finding the Blood Clan wasn’t easy. It took Naruto and Sasuke’s combined efforts for over a month before they finally found some sign of them. The clan had abandoned their old hideout completely and no one there knew anything about where they’d gone. Naruto and Sasuke had to start from scratch.

But when they eventually caught wind of them, and getting ahold of Mei wasn’t that difficult. They intercepted her at a bar that she and her friends frequented after having shadowed her for a few days. Naruto henged into a woman, a blonde like he used to, but this time with a short bob that covered his whisker marks, and went over to talk to Mei. Sasuke just kept in the background.

Mei panicked when she realized who Naruto actually was after he deliberately let his whisker marks show for a moment. She froze and backed away, looking around for her companions whom Sasuke already had silently taken care of.

Sasuke walked up to her and grabbed her elbow, and he and Naruto flanked her over to a shadowed booth and pushed her into the corner.

Mei started blubbering immediately.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to, I swear!”

“Shush,” Naruto said gently. “We’re not here to get back at you.”

She sniffled. “Then… why?”

Sasuke pulled back the hood of his cape slightly. “We just want to ask you some questions.”

“O-okay?”

“Tell us everything you know about Ginjiro,” Naruto said. “Where his ‘clubs’ are, who he works with; all of it.”

Mei got wide-eyed. “I-I don’t really know much.”

“Then tell us what you know.”

She took a deep breath. “He’s gonna know it was me who talked. He’ll come after me.”

She looked honestly scared.

“You didn’t seem afraid of him before,” Naruto said.

“I lost the little advantage I had over him when you guys took the map,” Mei said. “He never really trusted me before either, but since I disappeared at the same time as the map he knows for sure that I was behind it all. I can’t get close to him again because he’s hired some missing nin, so my chance of killing him is gone. And I don’t have the stupid map to bargain with.” She stared hard at them. “Unless you want to hand it over?”

“It’s in Konoha now,” Naruto said. “And it’ll stay there.”

Mei shrugged. “Figures. Did you try to follow the map? I thought you were dead for sure. Everyone who Ginjiro has sent to follow that map has either disappeared or they came back raving about invisible monsters. I thought that if you did the same, and with that seal too…”

Naruto shrugged. “Yeah, we followed it, but we found nothing of interest. Just a labyrinth of caves. Nearly didn’t get out of there alive.”

“So the map was useless?”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

Mei smiled. “I can’t wait for Ginjiro to hear that. That map was his life’s work.”

Then she looked over at Sasuke, her eyes lowered apologetically.

“I’m sorry about the seal, by the way,” she said. “I just panicked when you guys showed up at Ginjiro’s place and I realized who you were. I had to do what I could to stop you from ruining my plans. Ginjiro studies ninja’s with bloodline limits and he’s got a lot of intel on you, so I used his notes to try and stop you guys. I’ve never used that seal before, but it felt vicious. It nearly killed me just to put it on you.”

Naruto exchanged a quick, surprised glance with Sasuke. Why would the old man be studying bloodline limits?

“The seal is gone now,” Sasuke said, turning back to Mei. “So it doesn’t matter.”

Mei looked like she didn’t really believe him and she weren’t appeased until he showed her that the seal really was gone.

After they ensured her that they’d take care of Ginjiro as quickly as possible, Mei told them everything they needed to know, and more. Sasuke listened intently the whole time, but Naruto had been drinking a bit to ease into his ‘role’ as an ordinary club-goer, and he had a little trouble focusing. He met the eyes of a handsome guy by the bar that gave his female body an appreciative look, and without thinking he smiled flirtily back. It was just a knee-jerk reaction, nothing serious, but Sasuke noticed the smile and kicked Naruto under the table. He was frowning when Naruto met his gaze.

“Focus,” was all he said.

Naruto sobered up a bit after that.

They set off back to Konoha that same night in order to get the sensitive information back to Tsunade as quickly as possible.

They traveled through a forest and once they were alone, Sasuke stopped Naruto and pushed him up against a tree. He was kissing him before Naruto had the time to even grumble in indignation and after that Naruto didn’t feel that annoyed anymore. Since coming back to Konoha, they hadn’t had the time or energy to hone their relationship and Naruto had gotten more and more worried that his fears were founded in reality and that Sasuke was drawing away from him.

He clutched Sasuke’s neck and answered the kiss with as much desperation as Sasuke. It was a novelty to see Sasuke like this. It hadn’t happened since the meadow with the pink flowers.

Hands were slipping under clothes and then they were rolling around on the ground, on the slightly damp grass, fighting for the upper hand.

It was quick and wild and desperate. Hands were shaking and breaths were coming in quick, shivery puffs. Naruto came in Sasuke’s hand with a choked down whimper, and then he pulled Sasuke into his lap and made him come too. He loved the sound Sasuke made as he let go. That subtle catch in his voice: it was such a wet, vulnerable sound.

Sasuke buried his face underneath Naruto’s chin and they stayed like that for a little while until they got too cold and uncomfortable.

They hurried homewards in a light and comfortable silence. Naruto kept a little behind Sasuke, as always, just to remind himself that he was actually there, for real.

Once they came back to Konoha they delivered their information first, then they parted with a kiss before heading to their homes. Naruto took a long hot shower and fell asleep the moment he put his head on the pillow.

\-----

Their relationship took its time falling into place. In the following months, they found themselves in an awkward sort of dance where neither of them knew the steps, but they both tried their best to learn them. 

It took them months to really figure out what they were comfortable with, and in that time they barely had the time to spend much time alone together. Their mission concerning Ginjiro turned out to be a huge success as the old man could be linked back to other criminals high up in the system. They put an end to all of Ginjiro’s ‘clubs’ as well as a few other illegal businesses.

They also confiscated Ginjiro’s detailed notes on missing nin, much of which concerned the Uchiha. It was concerning how much he knew about the most prominent members of the Uchiha clan, among them Itachi and Sasuke. They also found documents containing seals and what looked like research and notes on experiments that had been done on different seals, many of them so obscure that few knew of their existence.

It was strange that Ginjiro knew so much about ninja’s, chakra and seals, but they couldn’t find any clues leading to a potential accomplice that was a shinobi.

Through Ginjiro’s notes, they learned that the map they had taken really was said to be the map that led to the fountain of youth. It had been a lifetime mission of Ginjiro to find the place. He’d done years of research that had convinced him that the fountain was real, and he had been determined to make good money off it.

The map had been in Konoha’s safekeeping until recently, before it accidentally had been destroyed. Naruto had a feeling that the destruction hadn’t been so accidental, though, and he also was pretty certain that Sasuke was involved, but he didn’t ask questions.

Honestly, Sasuke was right: the world would be a better place without that map.

Naruto had become convinced, in the aftermath of their journey, that the place they had entered into – that strange existence outside of time and space – let in only those it wanted to let in, either way. Naruto and Sasuke had no idea where they were going and thus they had no ulterior motives, and perhaps that was why they had been allowed to enter that sacred place.

It was only guesswork either way. They would never know what ruled that place, and what had allowed them to enter it, but it didn’t matter. It had brought them together, which was the most important thing they took with them from that journey.

In the end, it turned out that all their relationship needed was time, and once Naruto realized that, he just let go of all his preconceived notions of how a relationship was supposed to be and just did what felt right.

If just sitting next to Sasuke and falling asleep together with him, not once touching more than fingertips ghosting over hands or wrists, was what felt right, then that’s what he did.

Sakura kept subtly fishing for details and when Naruto said that they’d barely seen each other that week, or that it had been days since they kissed, she looked puzzled and slightly concerned.

Naruto supposed he would have been worried too if he’d been with anyone but Sasuke, but for some reason he felt completely confident that everything was exactly how it was supposed to be with them, so he was never bothered by it.

After a while, when things had calmed down a bit and they’d been off duty for a few days, they started spending more and more time together until Naruto was sleeping over at Sasuke’s place every night.

They had grown more relaxed in each other’s company for the last few months, finally getting to know each other outside of a work situation. They had always been completely in sync on missions, even after having been apart for a long time, and now that extended to every single part of their lives.

Naruto had half expected Sasuke to get tired of him and kick him out in the beginning, but even when he got fed up he never tried to put distance between them. Not more than what was reasonable, at least. Years ago, when Sasuke had just been released from prison and had moved into his new house, he would refuse to talk to Naruto for days and would lock him out of his life at the drop of a hat. But now they would fight and make up instead. It took Naruto a long time to get used to this and actually trust Sasuke not to turn his back on him and shut him out when things got difficult.

Sasuke really had changed after their journey. Something had happened to him in that meadow and Naruto was convinced that it had nothing to do with the flowers. Sure, the flowers had influenced them while they were in their vicinity, but they couldn’t have such long-lasting effect.

Something else had been there. Naruto grew more certain of that with every day that passed. Something that was linked to that place, and as such probably was the reason why those strange flowers were so potent, and why the food that they ate there had been so fulfilling, and why they had healed so miraculously. Nothing bad could exist in that place. That was the only explanation he had as to why the seal on Sasuke’s neck had disappeared so suddenly, too.

This strange power had healed something inside Sasuke. He appeared more relaxed and less guarded. It didn’t mean that he suddenly felt completely at ease in Konoha, but he did open up a bit more. That was the last push Naruto and Sasuke needed in order to really make their relationship work.

Finally, they lowered their guard and opened up to each other in a way that they’d never done to anyone else. This was different than the connection they had while fighting. This was deeper, gentler, and more loving.

This was what they both had been lacking and what they both needed so dearly.

And now they had finally found it in each other.

\-----

They ended up taking the jounin exam together because Naruto waited until Sasuke was ready to take it. It felt wrong, somehow, to take it without Sasuke. Sasuke had thought it was foolish of Naruto to wait because it meant that they had to manage on a lower pay, but Tsunade often sent Naruto off on jounin level missions anyway, so it didn’t really matter. Naruto was too valuable to be held back because of mere conventions.

They had some time off after the exam, and for the first time in a long while they had time to spare only for each other.

Up until then, they hadn’t really slept together that often, and they’d never gone all the way. They hadn’t even talked about it, though Naruto had fantasized about it more often than he wanted to admit. He had no idea where Sasuke stood on the matter, or if he even  _ wanted _ to.

Naruto wasn’t sure where he stood on the matter either. He loved the thought of doing it to Sasuke, but the thought of having it done to him scared him slightly. Ever since he found out that he was gay, he had experimented with the idea and he always found that he balked at being the one to, um… take it. But he would be willing to try. For Sasuke, he’d do it.

It hadn’t been an issue yet, though, so he hadn’t had to make the decision yet either.

But the night after they finished their exam and went home to celebrate in solitude – since all of Naruto’s friends were on missions and Sakura was working a late shift at the hospital – something changed.

They were fooling around after having been drinking a bit, thought they weren’t drunk, and suddenly Naruto felt bold. Sasuke was on top of him and Naruto grabbed Sasuke’s ass inside his pants as they kissed. Then he pressed one finger in between his buttocks.

Sasuke just kissed Naruto harder, groaning softly, and Naruto felt even bolder. He slipped his hand inside of Sasuke’s briefs and practically shoved his finger up between Sasuke’s butt cheeks and rubbed his asshole.

Sasuke broke the kiss with a gasp.

His eyes were closed and there was a small wrinkle between his brows. His mouth was slack. He liked it.

Naruto’s felt excitement erupt like butterflies in his stomach.

Sasuke resumed kissing him with even more passion than before and rubbed himself against Naruto’s thigh until he got off.

Naruto was amazed.

He kept kissing Sasuke as he rolled off him. He kissed his jaw and his neck and his collar bones as he rolled onto his back, lying sprawled like a stranded starfish.

Sasuke placed one hand on Naruto’s hips before moving it to his cock, and got him off almost lazily, never once opening his eyes.

Naruto nuzzled him and kissed his lips gently as he came down from his own orgasm, and Sasuke answered his muttered sentiments with soft words of his own. He opened his eyes only briefly to give Naruto a small smile, and then he rolled onto his side and fell asleep.

Naruto spooned him.

He couldn’t fall asleep at first because his mind was reeling.

Had Sasuke allowed it just because he was a bit drunk, or could it be that he would want to take it further?

He nuzzled the back of Sasuke’s neck and wondered about this until he too fell asleep.

\-----

They didn’t really talk about sex. They just experimented a bit more, and then Naruto said, “Do you want to try…?”

Sasuke nodded, and that was basically as far as their discussion about preference went.

Naruto had learned a little here and a little there up through his late teens, and he had a pretty good idea of what to do. He thought.

Though, as he drew up the courage to buy condoms and lube (because Sasuke flat out refused to do it), he started second guessing himself.

He came to the conclusion that he had no idea what he was doing, or how to do it. He’d never had anyone to talk to about it, and there wasn’t much openness around sex in Konoha so it wasn’t like he could just easily get his hands on information elsewhere.

He went to the library once, but he lost his nerve as he reached the section he sought. He ended up walking quickly past it. He wished he knew someone else who was gay, but Konoha’s gay community was either really small or really quiet, because it wasn’t often he saw or heard about anyone else who was gay.

When he finally went to buy condoms and lube he felt as embarrassed as when he was fifteen and got captured when he snuck a peek into an adult magazine. (That was also the moment when he accepted that he might not be straight… at all.)

He hadn’t needed to worry, though, because the cashier barely threw a glance at him. He just rang up the order without looking twice at it and looked bored while Naruto fumbled with the money.

Naruto felt like everyone he met at the street knew what he had bought and what he was about to do with it, and he didn’t relax until he closed Sasuke’s front door behind him.

He stashed the condoms and lube away in the bathroom and didn’t mention it again that whole day. Sasuke didn’t ask, though he kept giving Naruto questioning glances.

That night when they went to bed, both a little tired and wanting to just sleep, Naruto crept closer to Sasuke and hesitated for a bit, wondering how to put into words what was on his mind.

“Sasuke,” he muttered. “About… You know… About… um… sex?”

He berated himself for making it a question. Stupid.

“Yeah?” Sasuke sounded attentive, as though he’d been waiting for Naruto to talk.

“I, uh… Well… You see… I… havenoideawhatI’mdoing.”

Naruto leaned his forehead against Sasuke’s shoulder. His face was burning. He was certain that Sasuke hadn’t understood what he had said because the words had tumbled out of him in a rush, but he really didn’t feel like saying it again.

Sasuke caressed the back of Naruto’s neck.

“Me neither,” he said. “But we’ll figure it out.”

Naruto, who had worried about this conversation for so long, just felt confused. Was that it? Sasuke wasn’t going to laugh at him, or scoff, or mock him because he was so inexperienced?

It was like a huge burden lifted off Naruto’s chest, allowing him to breathe again.

He bit his bottom lip to keep it from wobbling. “You don’t?”

Sasuke’s eyebrows arched. “Do I come off as experienced?”

“I don’t know… How should I know? …I just thought you’d laugh at me.”

Sasuke’s expression softened. “Why would I do that?”

Naruto shrugged. “I dunno… Because I’m so useless, I guess. I thought everyone but me knew this sort of thing.”

“I think most people our age know as little as you do.” Sasuke kissed Naruto’s forehead. “We’ve got the whole week off,” he said. “We have plenty of time to figure it out.”

Naruto knew his smile was wobbly, but he couldn’t care less. He kissed Sasuke.

“Yeah, okay,” he whispered.

\-----

They slept in the next morning and Naruto made them breakfast in bed. Then they took a shower together, washing each other to ease out of the nervousness and into a more sensual mode. Hands slid over wet skin and gentle kisses were placed on shoulders and necks and temples. Soon enough their gentle kisses turned into something more desperate, and before long Naruto was squeezing Sasuke’s ass while Sasuke gasped into their kiss.

Sasuke was the one who finally, though reluctantly, extracted himself from Naruto.

“Where did you put the lube?” he said.

Naruto hurried to find it. He gave it to Sasuke, hoping he’d know what to do with it.

Not that Naruto was completely clueless, he just didn’t know what Sasuke liked, or how it was appropriate to start.

Sasuke turned off the water and squeezed some lube into his palm. Then he looped his arms around Naruto’s neck and drew him in for a kiss, and slowly but surely Naruto eased up a bit.

“Why are you so nervous?” Sasuke whispered against his cheek. “You’re not the one about to have a dick shoved up your ass.”

Naruto chuckled, mostly from surprise at Sasuke’s bluntness.

Sasuke kissed Naruto’s cheek. Then he grabbed one of his hands and led it to his ass. He grabbed one of Naruto’s fingers and coated it with the lube in his palm, and then he pressed both Naruto’s and his own finger in between his butt cheeks.

Naruto closed his eyes and nuzzled Sasuke’s cheek before he pushed the tip of his finger against Sasuke’s tight, puckered hole until it gave.

He felt Sasuke’s breath puff over his cheek. That, and the feeling of Sasuke’s asshole closing around his finger and sucking it in, made him shiver.

He stilled completely.

Sasuke waited, but when Naruto made no further movement, he nudged him lightly.

“You can continue,” he said.

Naruto nodded. His raging hard erection was pressed up against Sasuke’s hip. Sasuke must have felt how it twitched as Naruto pushed his finger deeper in.

“Is this okay?” Naruto murmured.

“Doesn’t feel much,” Sasuke admitted.

“Isn’t there supposed to be… something?”

“… I guess.”

“…You don’t feel anything?”

“… No.”

Naruto pushed his finger in deeper. Maybe… like this? Or this?

He pushed in a bit too hard at one point, pushing Sasuke’s hips hard against his own, and Sasuke groaned.

“Did I hit something?” Naruto asked.

“No,” Sasuke answered breathily. “You squeezed my cock against your stomach.”

“Oh…”

Naruto did the same thing again, and then they sorta forgot about the whole ass-fucking thing and went straight for desperate grinding.

Later that day they tried again, but this time they figured it’d be better if Sasuke started off with the fingering. They lay on the bed, underneath the sheets because Sasuke had a sudden onslaught of bashfulness.

“You weren’t embarrassed in the shower,” Naruto pointed out.

“Then I wasn’t doing it to myself,” Sasuke said. “Don’t peek!”

Naruto pouted but dropped the sheet. “I wasn’t.”

At first they just lay there sort of awkwardly, sharing small kisses. Naruto didn’t know where to put his hands so he kept them to himself. He was watching Sasuke’s face intently, so he noticed the change when it happened, though it appeared slowly. Sasuke got that lax-faced expression when something felt really good. Then his eyes became half closed and his body relaxed. He shifted closer to Naruto, kissing his shoulder and jaw but trailing off with a soft grunt.

Naruto kissed Sasuke’s exposed neck and his jawline as he rolled his head to the side.

He didn’t need to ask how Sasuke was doing. He could see it plain as day that he was feeling increasingly good by the minute.

Sasuke nudged Naruto with his knee. It took Naruto a few seconds to realize that he wanted him to slip in between his legs.

His cock was already as hard as it could possibly get, dripping precum on the sheets. It trailed along Sasuke’s thigh as he moved. Sasuke lifted his free hand and pulled Naruto down into a hungry kiss. Sasuke’s arms got trapped between them, and Naruto felt how the muscles in his arm worked while he fingered himself.

He wanted to look so badly, but what he wanted even more was to watch Sasuke’s face. So he did.

Sasuke met his gaze under lowered lashes. As they held the gaze, something hot and wild grew between them. Naruto pressed closer, letting his cock slide along Sasuke’s hipbone.

Sasuke’s free hand curled around it, collecting precum in his palm and giving it a few tugs. Naruto groaned.

He grabbed Sasuke’s cock and returned the favor.

Before long they both came all over Sasuke’s stomach, Sasuke still fingering himself. He drew in a sharp breath as he came, his fingers pushed deep inside of him.

“I’m sorry-” Naruto started saying when he came down and realized what a mess they’d made.

Sasuke cut him off with a hard kiss. “Did I say that I disliked it?” he said.

Naruto chuckled. “I’m not sorry, then.”

“Good.”

\-----

They rested for most of the following day. They relaxed in the sun on Sasuke’s porch, just caressing each other lightly and enjoying each other’s company. But at some point light touches turned into caresses which turned into groping.

Warm weather always made Naruto hornier. His whole body felt pleasantly hot and relaxed, and taking off clothes became that much more of a relief.

They eventually tumbled into the shower together to wash off sweat and prep. Sasuke didn’t care if Naruto watched him prepping this time.

Naruto couldn’t keep his hands and mouth off Sasuke. He touched every single part of his body, from the back of his knee where Sasuke was so sensitive that his legs almost buckled, to the back of his neck where he would become so adorably pliant and tilt his head back when touched.

Eventually Sasuke grabbed Naruto’s hand and lead it in between his legs. Naruto prodded at his asshole which was slick with lube and much more pliable than before. Naruto gasped when his finger easily slid all the way inside.

“Try two,” Sasuke said, his lips pressed against Naruto’s cheek.

Naruto shivered. His dick was throbbing. Sasuke’s eyes were fixed upon it, so he noticed. He didn’t touch, though, and Naruto was grateful because he feared that he would come if Sasuke as much as breathed on it. 

Two of his fingers slid inside of Sasuke easily.

Sasuke’s breath caught and Naruto drank up the sound. He pushed his fingers up a bit too hard in his eagerness and a choked moan left Sasuke.

They stared at each other for a moment, water dripping from their hair and into their faces. Sasuke’s eyes were wide and unguarded and swimming with molten desire.

They took it to the bedroom without further ado, where Naruto tackled Sasuke onto the bed. He crawled on top of him and grinned down at him.

Sasuke stretched out as lazily as a cat, his back arching, and Naruto completely lost his cool. He stared down at Sasuke’s strong, elegant body and had to swallow thickly when he realized that despite the fact that this body could give him a run for his money in a fight, it was now completely pliant beneath him, waiting…

Sasuke’s eyebrows were arched when Naruto looked at his face again.

“Did your mind overheat, or…?” He smirked.

Naruto pouted.

For a moment he just remained like that, suspended over Sasuke. His mind had come to a stuttering halt. Suddenly he wasn’t sure what to do next. He couldn’t just shove it in?

Sasuke placed his hands behind his head, as though he was simply relaxing. He had an amused half-smile on his face that Naruto wanted to wipe off.

“I left the condoms,” he muttered and got up to get one.

In the bathroom he fiddled with the small foil packet for a moment while he tried to take a few deep breaths. He closed his eyes for a moment and tried to make his body cool down a bit. He was too worked up to even think straight.

When he reentered the bedroom, Sasuke was lying where he had left him, completely at ease. His legs were slightly parted.

Naruto crawled in between Sasuke’s legs without looking at his face, pretending to be focused on fitting the condom on himself.

“Naruto,” Sasuke said at last, when the avoidance of eye contact became too apparent.

Naruto slowly looked up, meeting his eyes.

Sasuke reached out with both hands and Naruto propped himself on his elbows over him so that Sasuke could hold his face between his palms.

“I’m nervous too,” Sasuke said. “It’s okay.”

“You don’t look nervous,” Naruto said.

Sasuke’s eyelashes lowered. When he opened his eyes again, he allowed himself to look vulnerable for a moment. “I’m just better at hiding it.”

He ran the pad of his thumb over the corner of Naruto’s mouth. “Wanna talk to me about it?” he asked softly.

Naruto took a deep breath. “I’m just afraid I’ll…” He stared at his hand. “I dunno… I guess… That I’ll come too soon.”

His face felt a bit hot from embarrassment. 

“You probably will,” Sasuke said.

Naruto dropped his forehead to Sasuke’s chest. “That’s encouraging,” he murmured.

Sasuke ran his hands through the hair on the back of Naruto’s head. “It’s okay, though,” Sasuke continued. “I would too, if I was in your position.”

“What if…” Naruto trailed off, then tried again. “What if I do something wrong and… hurt you?”

“Let’s just proceed carefully. We’ll take it from there.”

Naruto nodded.

“Besides, if you hurt me I’ll hurt you,” Sasuke said and nipped at the tip of Naruto’s ear.

Naruto chuckled. “I don’t doubt it.”

“Then don’t worry so much. I’ve been hurt worse.”

Naruto sat up. “You can’t compare this with-“

Sasuke kicked him lightly in the side with his heel. “Stop. Talking.”

“Okay, okay.”

Naruto realized that he’d left the lube in the bathroom too, so he had to go and get that before he could continue. He reapplied it on Sasuke with slightly shaky hands and then on himself, careful not to create too much friction. He smiled shyly at Sasuke as he positioned himself. Sasuke answered with a shadow of a smile before a different expression took over his face. Naruto couldn’t describe it as anything else but expectant and a little nervous.

Naruto leaned on one hand over Sasuke and steadied his cock with the other. He prodded gently until he felt that Sasuke’s asshole gave.

He bit his bottom lip hard as he slid in through the tight ring of muscle.

“Damn,” he grunted.

He saw Sasuke’s chest heave, but didn’t hear him make a sound. He squeezed his eyes shut and prodded gently.

“Dammit, you’ve got a big cock,” Sasuke bit out.

Naruto blushed. He moved carefully but steadily, slowly inching deeper and deeper inside of Sasuke.

Sasuke’s fingers dug into Naruto’s shoulder blades. He squeezed his eyes shut at one point, a small wrinkle appearing between his eyebrows.

“Should I stop?” Naruto said.

Sasuke shook his head. “No, no… Continue…”

Naruto watched Sasuke unabashedly now that his eyes were closed. He found that watching Sasuke, looking for signs of what his movements were doing to him, brought him into a different mindset. He thought less about his own body and needs and more about Sasuke’s, and found that he could hold off a little easier.

Still… He wouldn’t hold out for long.

Sasuke put a hand over his mouth.

“What-“ Naruto started saying, but he stopped short when Sasuke frowned and gasped. “Hah… ah… s-stop…”

Naruto stopped immediately.

Sasuke opened his eyes a smidgen and looked up at Naruto. His eyes were pitch black and wide. “Why did you stop?”

Naruto stared at him in puzzlement. “You told me to.”

“Oh… I…” His eyelashes fluttered as Naruto shifted a bit. “Never mind. Keep going.”

Naruto took a deep breath and started moving again, slowly.

Sasuke clutched his shoulders hard.

He turned his face slightly away from Naruto. His eyelids were half lowered over dark, unfocused eyes. A small frown appeared on his face and he closed his eyes completely for a second.

Naruto faltered. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Sasuke bit out.

“Should I…?”

Sasuke made an impatient noise. “No, it’s good. Keep going.”

Naruto did, although with uncertainty. It felt so good, and the further in he slipped… It felt incredible, the way Sasuke’s body cradled him. He was scorching hot inside, and dripping wet from all the lube.

Naruto groaned as he slipped in at an especially good angle. Sasuke tensed and made a guttural sound from somewhere deep in his chest.

“Are you-“ Naruto started saying, but Sasuke cut him off.

“Stop asking if I’m okay,” he hissed.

He grabbed Naruto and pulled him closer. He bit the side of Naruto’s neck, where it met his shoulder. Naruto moaned in surprise and thrust up into Sasuke.

Sasuke threw his head back. One, single soft moan was thorn from him.

“Ohh…”

That sound… Naruto felt his whole body go molten with desire as that soft, uninhibited moan ignited his whole being.

“Naruto,” Sasuke gasped.

Naruto pressed his nose against Sasuke’s collarbone and deliberately moved slower, just to counteract the wild, warm desire that flooded him.

Sasuke was kneading the back of Naruto’s shoulders, squeezing harder when he felt good.

“Sasuke…” Naruto moaned, knowing it sounded like a plea, which it was. A plea for what, he didn’t know. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he breathed.

“You aren’t.”

“I – I might. I’m… I want to…”

_ Fuck you harder. _

He pulled out and with an immense show of restraint sunk slowly inside again, enjoying how Sasuke took in even more of him, thought it was only by a little.

Another soft, wet moan was pulled from Sasuke.

“Ah…” He clutched Naruto’s back, his feet hooked under Naruto’s ass, pushing him closer. “Just… uh… a bit… faster…”

Naruto nodded. Faster. He could do that without losing control.

He could do that.

He thrust choppily at first. He drew back as soon as Sasuke became too tight, but it was difficult to keep a steady rhythm like that.

Sasuke was clutching the back of Naruto’s neck now, his face hidden from view from Naruto, who still had his nose pressed against Sasuke’s throat.

Naruto could swear he heard Sasuke inhale what sounded like a moan, which must mean he was doing something right.

But then he felt Sasuke wince, and he was pretty sure that that wasn’t a good sign, but before he could overreact, Sasuke asked him to reapply lube, so he did.

He dropped the bottle twice, but Sasuke was patient. He embraced Naruto the second he placed himself on top of him again, and they resumed the position they’d been in before. It felt safe since it had worked out well so far.

As he started thrusting, Naruto could swear that he felt Sasuke slowly loosen around him, and he knew he was right when his cock felt encompassed in a new and overwhelming way. He shoved his face against Sasuke’s shoulder as he thrust a little too hard. He lost control for a second and suddenly it was over. It happened so fast. He came so sudden and hard that his eyes watered. He gasped against Sasuke’s skin, murmuring incoherently.

They clutched each other tightly in the aftermath.

It felt like ages before Naruto finally came down from the blissful place he’d been elevated to.

He pulled carefully out of Sasuke, but Sasuke wouldn’t let go when he tried to roll off him so he stayed on top of him for a little while longer.

He wanted to ask if he’d hurt Sasuke, but since he knew that he hated being asked that, he didn’t.

Sasuke mouthed Naruto’s throat. Naruto felt his erection against his stomach. He kissed his chest and then he moved downwards, trailing kisses past Sasuke’s bellybutton. Sasuke’s stomach muscles fluttered as Naruto’s lips brushed a ticklish spot.

Naruto removed the condom now that Sasuke wasn’t clutching him, and tied a knot on it before throwing it on the floor.

Then he returned his attention to Sasuke again. He kissed the tip of Sasuke’s cock next. He found he liked the salty, bitter taste of precum and sweat. He and Sasuke hadn’t experimented much with giving blowjobs yet. It was usually a quick and messy affair, but Naruto found that he was drawn towards the feeling of tasting Sasuke.

He enveloped the tip of Sasuke’s cock in his mouth and sucked lightly.

Sasuke grabbed the back of his head immediately, not in order to force Naruto closer, but because he had learnt from experience that Naruto went all in in that aspect too, and sometimes he found it overwhelming.

Naruto took in more of Sasuke’s dick until he felt it touch the back of his throat.

“Don’t swall-“ Sasuke started saying. Too late. “Ahh! You’re fucking crazy!”

Sasuke was losing it now, and Naruto enjoyed watching that almost as much as he enjoyed watching him while he was inside of him. He felt a warm shiver run through him and swallowed around Sasuke’s cock again.

Sasuke had to give in. He came down Naruto’s throat with a guttural groan.

He petted Naruto’s hair absently as he came down.

Naruto kissed his pubic bone.

“How was that?” Naruto asked.

Sasuke just tugged lightly at his hair. Naruto crawled up till he was face to face with him, but Sasuke turned his face to the other side. Naruto nudged his chin, making him look at him.

He looked thoroughly fucked out with his hair plastered to his sweaty forehead and temples, and his eyelids heavy, as though he was about to fall asleep.

“You look like a sleepy kitten,” Naruto teased.

Sasuke pressed his palm to Naruto’s face and shoved him away.

“Aw, no cuddles?” Naruto said.

Sasuke just turned his back to him.

Naruto pouted. “Grumpy.”

Sasuke pulled the sheets up around himself, but when Naruto didn’t join him immediately, he looked over his shoulder and held up the sheet, indicating that Naruto should crawl in next to him.

Naruto sidled right up to Sasuke and held him close.

Sasuke sighed but didn’t try to wriggle out of the grip, and Naruto kissed the back of his neck, smiling like a fool.

“Should we wash off?” Naruto said once he’d settled snugly against Sasuke’s back.

“Too tired,” Sasuke said.

“You’re gonna blame me tomorrow when everything’s sticky…”

Sasuke just grumbled.

Naruto sighed. “I’ll do it then.”

He fetched a moist cloth from the bathroom and went back to the bedroom to offer it to Sasuke. But Sasuke was already asleep. Naruto carefully removed the sheet and wiped off lube from Sasuke’s thighs. Then he threw the condom in the trash and took a quick shower before joining Sasuke on the bed and snuggling up close to him.

Naruto nuzzled the back of Sasuke’s hair, which somehow always smelled nice, even after sex.

He grinned.

They’d had sex.

“I had sex with Sasuke,” he murmured. He had to say it out loud to really appreciate how amazing it was.

“Shut up, moron,” Sasuke grumbled. There was an almost soft note to his voice, though.

Naruto blushed. “I thought you were asleep!”

“Can’t sleep in this noise.”

“Sorry.” Naruto closed his eyes. “I’ll sleep too now.”

\-----

Naruto woke up in the middle of the night. He clutched his stomach and rolled out of bed, groaning. Sasuke woke up too. He turned on the bedside light.

“Is it that stomach ache again?”

Naruto nodded. “It’ll pass,” he grunted.

“You say that every time. You should get it checked out.”

The stomach ache returned now and then, not often, but often enough to be concerning. Naruto had brushed Sasuke’s suggestions away so far, but now he was getting a little worried too. He’d never experienced much sickness throughout his life, due to Kurama, so he’d never had to worry about check-up’s before, but this had been going on for too long.

“Okay, I’ll… I’ll schedule a check up with Tsunade.”

He filled up a glass of water in the bathroom and leant against the sink while he waited for it to pass. It seemed to last longer each time.

Finally, the pain passed and he shuffled back to bed.

Sasuke had been reading while he waited for him. “Better?” he asked.

Naruto nodded. He vaulted into bed and used the opportunity, now that Sasuke was worried, to cuddle him. Sasuke arranged them so that Naruto was resting his head on his arm.

“Sasuke?”

“Mhm?”

“… No… It was nothing.”

“Sleep now.”

Sasuke was petting Naruto’s hair and it was such a pleasant feeling that Naruto felt like purring like a cat.

“Sasuke?” He said again.

Sasuke sighed. “Yes?”

“I, um… I love you.”

Sasuke was quiet for several seconds, through which his hand kept petting Naruto’s head.

Naruto was just about to launch into full panic mode, fearing he’d ruined everything, when Sasuke answered. “Moron. I love you too.”

Naruto grinned like a fool. He pressed his cheek against Sasuke’s arm, kissing his bicep.

Sasuke poked his cheek. “Don’t make a big deal out of it.”

“I won’t.” Naruto couldn’t stop grinning. “I’m just so happy.” He wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. “I’m so fucking happy I’m crying.”

Sasuke leaned forward and kissed the corner of his eye, tasting the salt from his tear. He nuzzled Naruto’s cheek and tilted his chin up, kissing his lips.

“I love you,” he said again. “I always have. You should know that.”

Naruto kissed him back. “I know,” he said. “I just love hearing you say it.”

He closed his eyes and drifted off to a peaceful sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading <3
> 
> Btw, there will most probably be a sequel some time in the future. Until then ~


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